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2. Proclamations
2.a. National Hispanic Heritage Month
Throgmorton: (reads proclamation) I think we have someone who's here to accept this
proclamation. Jessica Ferdig. (applause)
2.b. PLAYvolution
Tbrogmorton: If you have not been watching City Council meetings on TV, you have no idea
what PLAYvolution's all about, but we do! (laughter)
Dodds: (speaking away from mic) Okay, is everybody ready to play? (several talking)
Throgmorton: Jill (several talking)
Dodds: Everybody ready to play? (several talking and laughing)
Throgmorton: Yeah, maybe I could do that first. You know how this works, Jill. Jill is a City
Council person, you know (several talking and laughing) Okay, so proclamation!
(reads proclamation) All right! Jill! (applause)
Dodds: Okay, everybody got your kazoos? Okay, we're gonna (difficult to hear, away
from mic) ....everybody try it. (kazoos playing) I don't see all of you having
(difficult to hear, away from mic; people laughing) You need a kazoo! Yes!
Okay. (several talking and laughing) You guys already? Did you practice?
Throgmorton: Workin' on it! (kazoos playing; people talking and laughing)
Mims: I tried! I tried!
Dodds: Okay! Now our song this evening is in honor of our Mayor, Mayor Throgmorton.
Uh, we understand you're not running for another term, so we wanted to send you
out with one of your favorite Bob Dylan songs.
Throgmorton: Should I leave when this is over? (laughter)
Dodds: ....PLAYvolution goes through the 29th! (laughter) So we're gonna do "Blowing
in the Wind" (unable to hear; people talking and laughing) All right! (people
talking and laughing) We're hummin' in the wind! All right, are you ready? One,
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two, ready, go! (kazoos playing) (applause) (mumbled) I'd like to introduce Jeff
Capps. He is the new Executive Director of the Iowa Children's Museum, who
partners with us for the PLAYvolution and is a really big part of things. He's
gonna give us a couple comments about play!
Capps: All right! Thank you, Jill, and uh, just thank you, thank you, Mayor and Council,
for inviting us to celebrate the PLAYvolution. We think this is so critically
important. So we're going all around Johnson County this month and just remind
everybody about the importance of play. So you heard a lot about that in the
proclamation, and um, I just wanna share a couple of. ... a couple of thoughts with
you, uh, about what we .... what we are here to do. Uh, one of my favorite, uh,
favorite people is Fred Rogers. Any Fred Rogers (unable to hear; laughter) So he
talked about the importance of play (mumbled) He said we often talk about play
as if it's a break from serious learning, but the children play is serious learning.
Play is really the work of childhood. And I'm going to add on to that and say we
all should be thinking about the importance of play in our lives as well. How
many people say, oh, you know, I'll play (mumbled) too busy doing all my
important stuff. I've gotta .... I'll wait and play. No! We play now, right? Make
time for play. The importance of play. You think about all the great things that
have happened in this community, all the great things that have happened
throughout the history of mankind, the progress that we've made — it oftentimes
comes from people playing and experimenting and trying different things, and
playing in their work. So I would challenge you to say don't put off play!
Let's .... let's make play an important part of our lives and carve out time to do it
and .... and make it an important part of how we relate to each other in the
community as well, and we see that happen at the Children's Museum each and
every day, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to be a part of that, and I'd say our
community's going to be so much stronger if we .... if we foster that, and make that
an important part of what we do. So, uh.... PLAYvolution.org is the web site and
we've got all sorts of great activities through the 29th, as the proclamation, uh,
said, so please take a look at that, find something you can plug into, but you guys
are already part of the PLAYvolution because you played in the kazoo choir. So,
yeah, first step is completed. Find something else to engage in, and spread the...
spread the joy, spread the importance of playing. Yeah, this is about learning, this
is about growth, this is about community, and uh, we thank you for your time
tonight. We've got one more thing we're gonna do, as a team, and I'd like to thank
Jill Dodds, Councilwoman from Coralville, her husband Jeff and Sarah Glenn
with the Coralville Public Library, and the whole committee of PLAYvolution
that's helping make this possible, uh, throughout the month. So, Jill, take it away!
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Dodds: Uh, we're gonna teach you a cheer, and then, uh it's pretty easy. It's "One, two,
three, four, imagine, create, discover, explore; five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, let
the PLAYvolution begin!" All right, are we ready? One, two, three, four,
imagine, create, discover, explore; five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, let the
PLAYvolution begin!" All right (applause and people cheering) Thanks
everybody! (several talking) Thanks, Mayor.
Throgmorton: Great seein' you, Jill. Thanks! (plays kazoo, laughter) Oh, I can't do that!
2.d. Climate Action Day
Throgmorton: This one's a short one! (reads proclamation) So, John, are you here? John?
Yeah, there you go! (applause)
Christensen: (mumbled) day was established by the United Nations 28 years ago. International
Day of Peace shines a light on the universal aspiration for peace within the one
human family. Peace Day provides a globally shared day for all humanity, to
uplift unity and diversity, and to commit to building a culture of peace. This year,
2019, spotlights the theme'Climate Action for Peace.' This theme draws attention
to .... the importance of combating climate change as a way to protect and promote
peace throughout the world. This week in September (mumbled) on the peaceful
climate change battle. Yesterday morning, a climate (mumbled) class from City
High School joined members of the 100 Grannies, making posters for this Friday's
Iowa City Climate Strike. It will be marching from the City Hall to the
Pentacrest. This poster -making was filmed by the NBC national network, and
they did this on the front porch of our house on Dearborn Street. It will be on
national television on Thursday and Friday. On Wednesday, September 18th,
tomorrow, Iowa City Climate Advocates will present the'Energy Innovation and
Carbon Development Act' to the Johnson County Board of Supervisors. And
Friday is the Iowa City Climate Strike and that's where the .... the students
developed the signs for, and they will have an early.... getting out of school early
to do this march. Then finally on the 21 st is the International Day of Peace on
Saturday. Thank you.
Throgmorton: Great! Thanks, John. (applause)
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3-8. Consent Calendar
Throgmorton: Could I have a motion to adopt the Consent Calendar as presented or amended?
Salih: Move.
Cole: Second.
Mims: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Salih, seconded by Cole. Discussion?
6.h. Agreement with Public Space One, Inc. (PSI) — Resolution authorizing
the City Manager to sign an agreement with Public Space One, Inc. (PSl) for
community programming and to maintain the City's current mortgage on
the property at 730 S. Dubuque St.
Salih: I just wanna have three item, I wanna talk about it very brief. Uh, starting with
6.h., agreement with Public Space One. I just wanna ... a letter from John, I just
wanna make sure that if Geoff can talk a little bit about the letter and .... the, also
he asked that the Council (unable to understand) by signing off on the new
resolution with them. Uh, I just want to make sure we are doing that and for the
public information.
Fruin: Yes, I think John .... John is supporting the measure you're taking tonight. Is that
what you're looking for?
Salih: Yeah and .... we are, we as a Council are gonna agree to that. That's not a problem,
right?
Throgmorton: It's part of the Consent Calendar, so if we just vote on the Consent Calendar it will
be approved.
Salih: ...you respond to him because I see the letter. Yeah.
Teague: I actually had questions about 61. I was gonna pull it from the Consent Calendar.
(several talking) So we can discuss it now?
Throgmorton: Feel free!
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Teague: All right, great! Um, so the, uh, Public Space One, how long is this mortgage
agreement?
Fruin: How long is the mortgage? I don't think it has an expiration.
Teague: And .... and .....
Fruin: It's a .... it's a ... mortgage on the property but it ... it, we don't require payments on it.
Zero interest, and it's not .... they're not makin' payments on it.
Teague: So the City's making payments on it?
Fruin: No. No, the City provided at the time PATV that money to secure the space, and
we kept a mortgage on the property. So if they were ever desc... ever to, um, sell
the property or cease to exist that we would get that investment back.
Teague: Got it! Thank you!
8.a. Mary Gravit: IOWA CITY HOUSING AUTHORITY CHANGES
SECTION 8 DISABILITY RULES WITHOUT PUBLIC NOTICE
8.f. Mary Gravitt: BUS SHELTERS BEING REPLACED ONLY IN UP-
SCALE LOCATIONS [Staff Response included]
Salih: Okay the .... the second one is 8.a. and 8.f., letter from Mary Gravitt. I .... I just
wanna thank Mary because she's really doing a lot of good work, support all city
residents, and uh, I just wanna say that Mary, she ride the bus. She seen who
getting to the bus and getting off from the bus, the condition of everything, and
she really paying a lot of attention to this. That's why I would like to ask the City
Manager if he can include information from Mary in bus shelter location
planning.
Fruin: Yes, we've, um, Darian Nagle-Gamm is the Director of our Transportation
Services Department, I know has responded to Mary in recent, um, days and
given her an update on the location of the shelters that have already been installed
and then what's in store for round two. We have another round that's, um .... uh,
going to be installed, uh, here shortly. Um, the rest of the shelters are on hold
until we, uh, have a better understanding of what the new routes would look like
from our transit study. So we .... we went ahead and focused on those areas that
we feel very confident that the bus routes are .... are not gonna change or that we'll
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have some type of bus route on, even after the routes shift. So, uh, Mary has that
information. If Council would like an update, we can provide.... provide that to
you in a future information packet.
8.k. Paul's Discount Redevelopment: Paula Swygard, Janet Evans, Mary
Knudson
Salih: Okay, last one is 8.k. and you know the ... (unable to understand) suggestion I
guess have you respond to her or .... as she's really paying all sort of attention to
what going on there and .... you can respond.
Fruin: Uh, Paula Swygard, uh, yes. Tracy Hightshoe.... I don't know if Tracy's.... she, I
think she may have been in Des Moines today. Um, the NDS staff has, um, been
in discussion with some of the neighbors. We have gone out to the property, um,
the fence that was built is compliant. It's six -feet, which was required from the
Board of Adjustment. So we can't go back and force them to build a taller fence.
I know the staff is looking at the question of whether they extended the fence, um,
to the full extent that they were required to, and if we find that they didn't, then
we will have them extend that fence a little bit further. Um, we also had them, uh,
put some, uh, cutoff shades on their lights, uh, to help dampen that, but um. .... uh,
again I think the .... the height of the fence is the primary concern for the
neighbors and we don't have the ability to ... to go back. That .... that, um, the .... the
six-foot specific, uh, fence was .... was, uh.... um, that was a regulation that they
complied with.
Salih: Tracy's here (mumbled)
Fruin: Anything else, Tracy, that I missed there?
Hightshoe: (mumbled) but we are working. There is .... they have to extend the fence to the
property and to the right-of-way. However, when they got a wider curb cut, we're
looking at the landscaping requirements, so we're working through those issues
now, but we expect some type of resolution, but it'll only be a six-foot fence. That
is what the special exception required.
Salih: Okay. Thanks! That's it.
Taylor: I also wanted to talk about 81. uh, cause it's kind of in my neck of the woods
there. Uh, I was sad to see Paul's Discount go after so many years, but I was
pleased, uh, to see the fairly quick turnover in new businesses, but after receiving
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these emails I .... I did drive through the neighborhood in the evening, and I think
not only because of the fence, but .... but those lights are very, very bright and I
don't even know that putting the shades on 'em, if they've done that already, has
any effect, cause this was just the other day I drove through there, uh, and you
could even see the lights two blocks away and as far as four blocks away over at
Benton Street. You could still see these lights. They're so bright, uh, and it seems
very excessive and I was just, um, especially since it's so close to the residential
area and I just wondered about the staff response on ... on the lights, besides having
the shading on them. Is there anything.... anything more that we can do about it
for these neighbors, cause it is very bright, excessively bright. Sony, Tracy!
(laughs)
Hightshoe: We got the complaint. We went out there and looked at it. We did require them to
put shades on their lighting. They meet our standards as they are now. So we
can't by code require them to go any dimmer, urn .... then there'd be a safety
concern along their back .... that back alleyway and sidewalk at night. So
they're.... they're code compliant now.
Throgmorton: So I wonder if it's possible to simply contact the .... the new owners of the new
building, point out the difficulty that's being created for the people who live right
behind their building, and ... uh, invite them to ... alter their lighting, uh, perhaps
build a taller fence voluntarily, because I ... it seems to me very clear that the
people that live back there are being adversely affected, that it should not have
happened, but I understand they're code compliant. Uh, but they could voluntarily
do some things, if. ... if they were nudged.
Hightshoe: Yeah. We could talk to them and we can ask. We can't require it, but we can ask.
Throgmorton: Yeah.
Taylor: Thanks!
Salih: Thank you.
Throgmorton: Any further discussion about the Consent Calendar, and items in it? I think I'll
say one thing for the benefit of the public. We usually discuss these kinds of
things during our work session, which occurs right before the formal meeting, but
we ran out of time and were not able to discuss work session, questions about
work session, uh, questions about items on the formal meeting agenda. So this is
the only moment we could do this. All right, so we have a motion before us, uh,
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no fiuther discussion? Roll call please. Could I have a motion to accept
correspondence for item 6.h. please?
Salih: Move.
Cole: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by, uh, Salih, seconded by Cole. All in favor say aye. Opposed. Motion
carries. All right. I guess I did not say that the first motion passed unanimously,
7-0.
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9. Community Comment
Throgmorton: Uh, this is the moment when anybody can speak to us about any topic that is not
on the formal meeting agenda, but is something that's on your mind and you'd like
to bring to our attention. So when you step up, would you please come up, sign
your name, state your name for us, and then take not more than .... uh, three or
four minutes to state what's on your mind. That was a fake! (laughter) Good
evening, Ed!
Flaherty: Hi, I'm Ed Flaherty. I would like to, uh, endorse what John Christensen said, on
behalf of, uh, Veterans For Peace, the International Day of Peace, and Climate
Action. Um, you know, with ... a lot of media coverage of the .... oil fires in Saudi
Arabia, uh, which has gotten, uh..... much more attention than, uh, five years of...
of tens of thousands of people dying in Yemen. Um, but this .... this has to do
with.... with peace. We all want peace, but peace will not fall down from the sky
like manna. Uh, we have to work for it. Right now, uh, we .... we definitely do
not need a war with anybody. We definitely do not need a war with Iran, and um,
the Commander in Chief does not have authority to wage war in Iran if he wanted
to! Hopefully he doesn't want to. But I would, uh, urge people to make the
connection between what was said at the beginning of the first Gulf War in 1990,
91, uh, no blood for oil. Um, that rings true right now, and with our climate in
crisis, we know that we cannot afford to spend $740 billion a year on the military
while we spend, um, maybe six million, uh, on the National Ocean and
Atmospheric Administration, that kind of thing. So, uh, that's not actionable by
the City Council, but it is actionable by each of us as individuals. Hope to see
you all on Friday afternoon! Thank you.
Throgmorton: Thank you, Ed. Anyone else? Good evening, Becky.
Ross: Hi, I already signed up on the list over here. I'm Becky Ross and, uh, I am ... do I
need to say my address? Well, um, I'm also a member of 100 Grannies. So
hopefully we'll see some of our grannies on TV, uh, this week. Um, I would like
to recommend that the City look at tying electrification to TIF funding and
rezoning requests. I've read that electrification can supercharge the energy
transition, which could help us get to the goals you've set for your climate action
adaptation plan. The energy transition is underway all over the world. It is taking
different shapes and may progress from different starting points, depending on the
area. But it's clear we've now reached a stage where globally we're all engaged in
a shared challenge. The ... the electricity sector in particular has decreased the
average generation costs of solar PV by over 70% since 2010. In the first three
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weeks of April, 2019, Mid American Energy wind farms generated the amount of
energy it takes to power more than 117,000 homes for a year. In some regions, it
is already cheaper to generate a kilowatt hour with renewable energy than it is
with fossil fuels. Natural gas emits unregulated amounts of methane, and
methane has ten times the global warming potential as CO2. Therefore, by
creating an incentive to build all electric buildings we are facilitating future
conversion to energy produced entirely from renewable sources. This plan would
support Mayor Throgmorton's statement that the City should seek a quantified
plan for e ... emissions reductions, and I would like to commend the City Council
for your efforts to reduce Iowa City's carbon footprint. Thank you.
Throgmorton: Thank you, Becky. Anyone else? Hi, Mike.
Carberry: Good evening, Council. Uh, my name's Mike Carberry. Uh, resident of Iowa city
and Johnson County. Would like to, uh, commend City Council for its recent, um,
climate crisis resolution. Uh, I know I just love living in Iowa City, where you
can have folks from junior high that are the climate strikers askin' you to do that,
as well as the 100 Grannies. I'm somewhere in the middle, um, but since I just
had my 40th high school reunion, I'm probably closer to the Grannies than I am to
the climate strikers. So, I was told there would be no math but (laughter) figure it
out. Okay! (laughs) So .... I've worked professionally on climate, uh, solutions
for almost 20 years, and urn .... we're askin' you, I'm asking you and the Grannies
and everybody else, to continue to be bold. Be leaders on climate change
solutions. Do not let Fairfield, do not let Dubuque, Des Moines, or even
Berkeley, California get out in front of us. You have the support of this
community to be bold on climate change. Some of the things that we can do, we
all know .... and just in your resolution we're talking about quit burning fossil fuels
and we need to start ... stop doing that, um, by 2030 or 2050, depends on .... on how
you, uh, shape that. But our buildings, and I think Becky was talking about that,
we need an electrification. We need to stop burning natural gas. And .... for many,
many reasons, and we can produce all of. ... electricity with renewable sources. So
that's something that you could provide incentives for peo... for electrification, for
that transition. I know I bought my house from a, uh, a gentleman that worked for
Mid American Energy, and everything in my house that can be natural gas, is
natural gas. So I have to make that transition, and other people are gonna have to
do that too. So on our new buildings, the City of Berkeley just passed a
resolution, or a .... it wasn't a resolution. It was a mandate that new buildings,
especially commercial buildings, could not, uh, use natural gas. They have to be
electric. And we need to be that kind of bold. Transportation, we need to make
this city the most walkable, bikeable, and busable city in Iowa, and we're working
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on that. You have a bus, uh.... thing out right now, where you're askin' people
what they wanna do, but the answer to get more people on the bus is free buses
(laughs) work with the cities. The cities and the University need to work together
to figure that out. How can the buses be free so more people take'em? We need
extended routes. We need extended days of service. We need to .... we need
passenger rail. We've worked on this. As a County Supervisor I worked every
year on those issues with the County, and I... with the City, excuse me, and I
encourage you to continue to do so. We need, uh, more renewable energy in the
city on City buildings. We need solar on every building that, uh, the City owns or
operates, and especially on new ones, but we can retrofit the existing ones. And
then we need to help the citizens of this community to transition to solar as well.
And of course we're gonna have to work with Mid American Energy on these
things. We also need an elec.... uh, an electric vehicle economy here. Uh, we had
an EV show at the Fanners Market this weekend, and there was so much, uh, so
many cars there and so much, uh, enthusiasm for electric vehicles. Well, we need
more infrastructure, and I know that Mid American is talkin' about putting more
EV stations, charging stations, along interstate 80. Well we need the City, the
counties, and the other communities in this county in this area need to work with
Mid American and the other utilities to get as much EV infrastructure as we can.
And of course I already mentioned working with the other communities. Iowa
City can't do this alone. You have the support of the citizens, but I know I
attended meetings about every two months where every community in this county
sat down and worked together, and that also includes the University of Iowa and
the Iowa City Community School District and the other, uh....uh, school districts
in the .... in the area. We all need to work together on this, because this is a
collective problem. It's gonna .... it already affects all of us. It's an existential
threat and we all know that we hear every presidential candidate that traipse
through calling climate change an existential threat. I had to look up what
existential meant and I said, oh my god! We're .... we're doomed! (laughter) But
we're not doomed. We have the answers. We know what to do. We just need to
be bold enough to take action. So thank you very much for what you've done.
Continue to work as hard as you can. Thank you.
Throgmorton: Thank you, Mike.
Wills: Good evening, City Council. My name is Brianna Wills. Uh, 70 Hickory Place.
I'm the Executive Director of Old Brick here in Iowa City and I'm here to share a
little good news with you tonight! I'd first like to take this opportunity to thank
City Council for being part of our amazing renovation here at Old Brick, just
down the street from you guys. Um, we worked with Geoff here, um, for the City
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to donate some of the historic, um, ped mall bricks, um, to our project that we just
completed. We just completed, um, a addition, a 2,000 -square foot addition and
patio extension to our historic building. Um, which is really amazing. Um, it's
really, um, the great thing about the project is when we finished it, um, on budget
and on time in just three weeks, it looks like the 2,000 -square foot addition has
always belonged on our 156 -year-old building, which is really amazing when you
can add such a big project and it looks like it's always belonged on the building.
And the great thing about Old Brick is it serves more than 15,000 people every
year, um, that come through our community center, um, and so is, you know, a
large portion of our, um, of people, you know, in Iowa City and the surrounding
communities. So it's a really well -used building and serves a lot of. ... we have 16
non -profits, um, that have offices within Old Brick. So it really serves our
community really well. So we just, um, wanna thank the City Council and, um,
you guys did some cost-sharing with us, the City and the County, um, and we
were able to do some really environmentally -forward projects, um, with that, um,
some waste water management, um, with that project. So, um, the board of
directors at Old Brick, um, really are trying to show that historic buildings can be,
um, forerunner, um, can show that historic buildings can be, urn .... at the forefront
of showing that, urn .... they can be, um, environmental stewards, and that a lot of
times historic buildings are grandfathered out of, um, of. ... of a lot of, um,
standards, and they can say, oh, we don't have to do that because we're
grandfathered out and, um, we really wanna show that we can be, um, we can be
really forward, and um, show that, um, environmental standards are really
important and .... and that's really what we showed in this project. So, um,
anyway, I just wanted to take this opportunity to .... to share some good news and
that, um, it's a really amazing project and we hope you come visit us and see that
it's really going to add a lot, um, to our downtown district and, um, we hope you
come share!
Throgmorton: Thanks, Brianna. It really is great to see that addition being made. Anyone else?
Good evening!
McCubbin: Uh, good evening. My name is Andrew McCubbin. Uh, so I'm going to be
discussing, um .... uh, little bit about, I warm clarify some things, um, on the
Dodge Street and Governor, uh, overlays. Um (mumbled) moment. Um, so I
wanna first point out some inconsistencies in the report on this project during the
work session, um, earlier this evening. The vast majority of Dodge Street, uh,
residents were not notified. If you were present at the meeting, um, it was
indicated that, uh, property owners of, uh.... the Dodge Street and Governor
Streets, uh, those that were notified, not specifically the residents. Um, the public
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meeting was scheduled less than two weeks before being held, and also was
conducted during a break, when many students were not on campus, um, and
would not have been able to attend. Um, the street is almost entirely rental and
multi -family housing. Large portion of that likely students. Um, they should
have been notified, um, and then also what about residents on adjacent streets that
will be impacted by loss of parking on Dodge and Governor. Are the streets and
parking users not directly adjacent to (mumbled) excuse me, just as effected by
the proposed changes. It's important to keep in mind, um, when looking at
correspondence from these .... from those advocating for the bike lanes on these
two blocks, that none of it comes from people who were present at the meeting.
Those actually in attendance at the meeting left with an understanding, uh, I was
one of them, that parking would be kept and at least part of the project was settled
as such. To be frank, one of the attendees who was self -professed against vehicles
enti ... entirely, excuse me, even spoke up at the end of the meeting, acknowledging
that he had been wrong about the need for the 80 or so spots affected. Um, I'm an
avid cyclist. I support bikeability, um, but I also don't support that at the expense
of poor design decisions, um, for all stakeholders affected. The City has a focus
on climate safety impacts on City decisions, um, it seems like there's little that the
City's doing to mitigate emissions with addr...by addressing low -hanging fruit. So
what is the climate safety impact of cars circling and looking for parking, or
sitting idling behind delivery trucks and stopped buses. Uh, many of these people
will not give up their cars overnight, and in many cases don't have the luxury of
giving them up. Um, as an aside, I wanna point out that I .... I wasn't aware of this
at the meeting, uh, so wanted to bring it to your attention now. Um, it wasn't until
after the meeting that I realized that a City employee was present as a resident.
Um, it came to my attention that the transit director and former transportation
planner was present at the meeting. I want to note that she was the most
outspoken about keeping South Governor two-way, and was advocating for the
removal of parking on Dodge Street and South Governor, uh, if that meant getting
bike lanes. Um, I would like to think that this wouldn't be an issue with City staff.
Just wanna make sure that the Council's aware of this, um, potential conflict of
interest, um, in these design decisions, um, and making sure that, um, people that
do have a conflict of interest on City staff, um, as residents aren't making design
decisions that only benefit themselves. Thank you.
Throgmorton: Thank you, Andrew. Anyone else?
Dixon: Hello!
Throgmorton: Good evening.
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Dixon: David Dixon. Seems like every time I come to Iowa City I come to the City
Council meeting, uh (laughter)
Throgmorton:... notice that!
Dixon: Not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing! Um .... I wanna kind of add on a
little bit to what Andrew said, um, in regard to traffic engineering decisions with
regard to Dodge and Governor Street. Um, I .... I watched the work session
online, um, I heard a number of things being discussed by Council Members and
by transportation planners, none of which are engin .... who are engineers....
licensed to conduct those decision-making processes. Um, at least.... unless you
guys are using fictitious names up here or something (laughs) Assuming those are
your legal names, none of you show up in the PE registrations for the State of
Iowa. So my concern when I hear some of these discussions is that City engineers
are not being allowed to make determinations as to what's safe and what's
appropriate on city streets. Uh.... the deci.... you know, everybody can say they
want a bike lane. Everybody can say they want two-way traffic or one-way
traffic, they want it to be buffered, they want it to be a super -highway, whatever it
is. Those are all decisions for engineers to be making. You can relay objectives.
You can't tell 'em how to design the road features. Yes I know sometimes they
sound like simple pavement markings, but those are traffic control devices. They
are regulated. Um .... to.....to get at some of what the problem is here, um, in my
mind beyond that, is the fact that there seems to be this notion that renters are
somehow less than full and equal citizens in Iowa City. I've heard numerous
references to, you know, the idea that, well, renters are only gonna be here for a
few years at a time. That may be true for some of 'em. I'm pretty sure you've got
a few renters on Dodge Street that have been there for a decade, or two decades.
Um, there's enough rental units there I'd almost guarantee it! You've also got a
rental code that allows for one more resident per dwelling unit than parking space
required by the landlord. You have people, you know, two-bedroom apartment
with two parking spaces that has three people in it legally by City code. What are
the odds that in a two-bedroom apartment, only two out of three students, on
average, have .... a car? What's the likelihood in a one -bedroom or a studio
apartment that a married couple has a single car in those .... those circumstances?
You have a need for parking. Your engineer realized that. He made a statement at
the meeting, uh, the.... discussing that with residents, that the parking was
necessary and would be kept. That's an engineering decision to mark that
parking. I hope you don't .... take the engineering job, whether it's to eliminate
parking or not. I .... I personally don't have a dog in the fight. That's an engineer's
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decision, whether that parking is the most appropriate marking for that pavement,
not anyone else. Thank you.
Throgmorton: Thank you, David. Anyone else? All right, I'm not seeing anyone else so we'll
move on to Item 10, Planning and Zoning Matters.
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10. Planning and Zoning Matters
10.a. Rezoning south of Scott Blvd and north of Tamarack Trail — Ordinance
conditionally rezoning approximately 36.81 acres of land located south of
Scott Boulevard and north of Tamarack Trail, from Interim Development
Single -Family Residential (ID -RS) to Low Density Single -Family Residential
(RS -5) (Pass & Adopt)
Throgmorton: Could I have a motion to pass and adopt please?
Mims: So moved.
Thomas: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Mims, seconded by Thomas. Discussion? I wanna give people in the
audience an opportunity to speak about this, if they would like. So is there
anyone in the audience who would like to address this particular topic about
Tamarack Trail and .... and soon? Good evening!
Edwards: Good evening.
Throgmorton: Please state your name, write it down too, please.
Edwards: Okay. I'll write it first (laughs)
Throgmorton: Okay.
Edwards: This is my first City Hall .... City Council meeting (both talking)
Throgmorton:... welcome!
Edwards: Thank you (laughs) My name's Michelle Edwards and I live on Hickory Trail,
and um, I'm part of the group that's pretty upset about the housing development
and what it will do to our neighborhood. And it's really apropos to a lot of the
other discussions that were preceding, uh, this one, in terms of play, climate
change, and all those things. Because we have a neighborhood that's quiet and
has green space and a park for kids to play, and it ... it's now being threatened
because of a development that will add on our street alone, uh, by conservative
estimates 571 trips on that street, which will change the neighborhood completely.
What I'd like to say is I have a hard time understanding why you would be for
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that? Like we go to cities and we visit neighborhoods and like generally we go to
neighborhoods like the one we live in, and like we wanna walk there. It's like a
treasure! And I can't understand why we would warm change that! We have so
much encroachment on green spaces in Iowa City. We've lost in the little loop
that I used to walk the four -mile loop, three farms. Why would we want to put 50
houses there? Couldn't we stop a moment and think? I'm not saying let's not
develop this, but I'm saying let's think about that. Let's think about what that field
would be and where would we like to add fewer homes, and integrate that with
the neighborhood and really have a little jewel in Iowa City that's quiet and green.
We're close to Hickory Hill Park. Often people extend their trip from Hickory
Hill Park up and down our street. People come from ACT and walk around. I
invite people I know from all over the city to come to our little pocket park,
because it's so sweet and quiet, and there isn't much traffic. And I ... I really beg
you to reconsider, to take some time and think about what this development is.
We have development all over Iowa City. It's changing it. We've been told in our
neighborhood we should expect that we now live in a city and we should have a
city street, and I'm saying to you why? Why should the city traffic and everything
change ... be invited in? Why don't we preserve something? It's beautiful! Thank
you!
Throgmorton: Pardon me, could you say your name again (both talking)
Edwards: My name is Michelle Edwards.
Throgmorton: Thank you.
Edwards: Thank you very much!
Throgmorton: Anyone else?
Rude: Hello, everybody.
Throgmorton: Hi!
Rude: Good to see you again! Urn .... it's been kind of a long road for us! We've been,
uh, from neighborhood meetings through Planning and Zoning Commission,
through Council meetings, and here we are at adoption time. So....
Throgmorton: Pardon me. I .... I know we know who you are but would you please say (both
talking)
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Rude: ...down there, didn't I, and I didn't tell ya. I'm Scott Rude of Tamarack Trail.
Sorry! So we just, we think that we can still come with a good outcome. We
really believe we can do it. Um, Michelle made a, just a great statement. I just
wanna, uh, echo that, of course. Um, but throughout this walk we've been
sometimes ridiculed, sometimes ignored. Um, we make another attempt tonight
to get some kind of a accommodation, um, and only .... only you can cause that to
happen. Now we've said that RS -5, and that's a low density zoning measure,
we're fine with that. As Michelle said, what we're looking for is just a little bit of
room to try and make it a little more pleasant. Um .... it's changing the .... the
make-up of our neighborhood, no doubt about it. So we seek your aid in easing
the traffic, preserving safety and peace, ensuring effective drainage management,
harmonizing new with old, not after the fact cause I saw a couple things tonight
that you tried to get at, after the fact, and that's very hard. If we can do this ahead
of time, if we can get ahead of it and come together as a community, put this plan
together, it could be awesome. Seventy-five neighbors, as you know, petitioned
you to ask for your help. Many of them are here today. Um, while we've been
sometimes viewed as an annoyance, an impediment to growing the tax base, the
fact is our approach is for the good of the city and a stronger, more attractive tax
base, we believe. When no flexibility was shown by City, developer, Zoning
Commission, then and only then did we come and protest the zoning ordinance,
just to say'can we make this wait, can we just wait and make a better plan.'
Obstacles were placed in our way, rules applied, interpreted uniquely. We're
discouraged, but we keep coming back in hopes you'll help us out. Members of
the City Council have asked the developer and City staff to work with us;
however, no compromises have been gained. John Thomas suggested in his, in...
in a Council meeting or two that an additional calming circle be added. I believe
that's been ignored. The comprehensive plan was cited to us by the Council, so
we looked at it in greater depth. While it is outdated and needs revision, we....
also saw its intent of 1999. And that intent clearly sought out green space;
harmony with the current development; a plan that accounted for the wetlands and
sensitive areas, specifically; the topography was cited as hilly and erodible. Since
that time, there's been no reduction in the need to protect green spaces that I'm
aware of. It's topical and .... I couldn't have had a better lead-in tonight, with the
climate action piece. It's real! Before we approve this plat, the citizens of
Bluffwood ask once more for your help. Please delay the plat approval, not the
zoning, the plat approval at this time and ask the City staff to find areas of
agreement with us. We are flexible, we are reasonable, and we will do what's best
for the city and our neighborhoods. We believe that, we know we can do that.
Um, matter of fact, uh, Terry'll come up here in a few minutes and he'll show ya a
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couple options. Things we've been thinking about .... he's been workin' hard!
We're trying to do our best. We really are! Um .... I just thought I'd ask. I know
you don't know probably if you've .... how many people are here, but would people
who are in on this particular initiative please stand and maybe if you're standing
already, raise your hand? Just so you know we're here. Um .... and really
appreciate that, and appreciate your consideration tonight. Thank you.
Throgmorton: Thanks, Scott. Who's next? Good evening, Terry.
Kardos: I'm John Kardos.
Throgmorton: Sony, John. My bad! Excuse me.
Kardos: Well hello again. Um .... I thought I would, um, tell you a little bit about myself,
because.... so you'll know where I'm coming from. Uh.... I.. A know I don't
know all of you at all by any shot, but uh, let me say a few words first. Um, I'm a
retired engineer. Um, I was employed in industry and as a University professor at
Washington University in St. Louis for over 50 years. Um .... I'm also a
contributor to ASTM, which is a world standard's organization. This is one
volume of 80 that, uh, covers just about everything from baseballs to, uh, you
name it. They have a standard for measurement, for, uh, development of a
particular product, and uh, it's one that I've contributed to over the years. Now,
um, as a result of my experience, I've, uh, been analyzing complicated
engineering problems for a long time and it taught me a couple of things. Uh, real
data is usually more useful than any estimation technique. That's one thing.
Secondly, algorithms are only as good as the inputs to the algorithms are. And
with respect to the, uh.... traffic estimation that's been done on this development, I
really have to question those numbers. Um .... I'm not sure how Mr. Ralston made
his estimates, but clearly they did not include real data on the, uh, intersection
between First Avenue and Hickory Trail. Um, so ... I'd like to ask the Council ... to
have such a study done. I think it's important, um....and therefore can postpone
the plat consideration. Um, now if the study shows that a lower number of, uh,
exits and entrants are made than was used in Mr. Ralston's estimate, that's possible
that the number calculated for the new development would be less than the 500
and therefore require only one exit, and by the way, only one exit was shown in
the first letter that we got from the City, with a plat on it. I guess it was a
preliminary plat, perhaps, I'm not sure, but there's no .... there's only one exit on it.
So obviously the developer and, uh, owner were thinking'We only need one exit.'
Now, um, I guess that's the question, uh.... so what I'm asking for is, uh.... new
study, traffic study done on that intersection. It doesn't take that much time. Um,
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so we find out what's really going in and out of this new development. Thanks for
your attention.
Throgmorton: Thank you, John. Anyone else? I'll get it right this time. Good evening, Terry.
Protextor: Yeah, it's Terry this time! Uh, Terry Protextor, uh, 1007 Tamarack Trail and let
me get .... (setting up PowerPoint, speaking away from mic) There we go! All
right! Good evening. Let me start this over a little bit. Uh, as you know, and it's
been commented before by the other gentleman, the last time we were in a
Council meeting, uh, the first one, uh, you kindly suggested to the City staff and
the developer and owners to, uh, work with us and have some discussions. Well,
we did that prior to the second Council meeting a week or so ago, and it wasn't
exactly what I would call in my business terms a productive meeting or even a
receptive meeting.... that we attended, and I think you heard that comment the
other ...last week. So we .... we on our own continue to look to find other traffic
calming solutions, other than putting trees in the, uh, right-of-way, which was
proposed earlier by the City. Uh, we thought other calming, uh, traffic calming
actions utilized by other U.S. cities, not just, uh, a study if you will, uh, both by
the U.S. Department ofAgricul.....or excuse me, Department of, uh.... uh,
Transportation and the Institute for Transportation Engineers. So, um, using lot of
people's other data, not Terry's opinions, uh, what we came up with in my
research basically there are several other options. One I'll mention tonight that
you've seen before in some of the correspondence I've had with you as, uh, City
Council staff, was emergency vehicle only closure, and I'll show you that, but uh,
I even spoke with, uh, some folks over at the, uh, Fire Department and they
enlightened me on a couple points about it. So I won't spend a lot of time on that
first one, but there's also a choker option and I'll show you that in a second, and
the, uh, chicane option, which is an interesting word but I'll show you what that
means. Median barriers, that's pretty obvious so I'm not gonna spend time
referencing that one. Uh...just wanna show you a visual, uh, looking up our
street, toward the new development, uh, with the trees and the, uh, if you will, the
end of the development with the, uh, what I call turnaround circle, not really a
cul-de-sac per se. This was the, uh, option we were looking at for quite a while.
It, uh, if you look at that post in the middle, basically it's a flexible post that fire
emergency vehicles could just, uh, move right over the top of. It's a flexible
thing. We found out, when I talked with the, uh, Fire Marshall, he suggested,
well, Terry, that could be an option, but, he said, what happens in the winter time
if the, uh, snow plows build up snow or ice on that little piece of, uh, pavement
between the two, uh.... uh...... between the two, uh, yellow signs there, and uh,
well, point well taken. That could be an option .... or a problem. So .... let me
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move on to....and this came out of the, um, obviously the engineers,
Transportation Engineers Professional website. It's called a choker. Basically if
you look at the, uh, picture on the right, basically what it does is it chokes the
street down to barely one lane, which would help reduce.... would help slow the
traffic down, and I'm not suggesting this be done in the new development. I'm
suggesting we consider this both for, um, Hickory Trail and Tamarack, because
we .... and this is not from me. It's from source of information from the City. Uh,
we can't, uh, propose something after the developments done, or after the plat's
approved. So we have to do this in concert together and that's what the gentleman
prior to me was suggesting. Let's wait a couple weeks so we can get in front of
the ... your staff to say what about this option, what about this option. To me it is
an acceptable option to try and reduce the traffic. Uh, I'm surprised other folks
haven't brought this to your attention, considerin' the time we've spent, uh, in front
of the P&Z and, uh, and the and the, uh, Council here. Uh, chicane, uh,
depending how you wanna pronounce it, that's another option, which really, um,
creates a zig-zag effect. If you look at the left-hand side you can see the red
pieces there. Knocks it down to about one lane, still allows for fire safety to get
through, still allows for, um, snow plows to get through, etc. Why not look at that
option? The right-hand option is really more the median option, kind of. ... that
doesn't really slow it down because it's too wide a street in this picture at least.
Um, so we're saying why not talk to us a little bit more. We shouldn't be the ones
havin' to come up with calming solutions, other than trees. Um, so we're, again,
repeating our thought here, but we ask the City Council, uh, instruct the, uh.... uh,
staff to slow down the plat approval for two weeks. We're not asking for months.
So we don't wanna impede on the development, uh, developer's, uh, fall, uh,
construction activity, but give two weeks for us to sit down and if you would
direct the City staff, uh, to, uh, work with our neighborhood concern group to find
a logical and appropriate solution for us to, uh, increase, or excuse me, for, uh,
deal with increased traffic, and we would appreciate it. And to borrow from some
folks earlier, let's come together and truly work and play as a community, uh, in
the future here, um, and that's what I have to say. I really hope you take us
seriously, uh, we've spent a lot of time and tried to get people's attention and I'm
not sure that we have been able, been successful with that. Thank you.
Throgmorton: Terry, I'd like to ask you one quick question.
Protextor: Please.
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Throgmorton: It has to do with a couple of the options you (both talking) couple options you just
presented. Are .... are you suggesting these as ways of reducing the traffic volume,
or reducing traffic speeds?
Protextor: Reducing traffic speed. We went around, honestly, to all 120 houses this
weekend, asking people if they could, have the time to show up tonight, and that's
why you see a few more people here tonight, and everyone that was home, they
understood what was going on. Many of them have small children and they said
we support this, Terry. You know, we've got kids that are ridin' their bikes over to
Regina, down the street to, uh, the older children going to City High, etc., and uh,
they're concerned about the number of cars coming through the neighborhood. Sc
I think it may not reduce the cars, and as John said, we're not sure the data is
accurate because it's not based on data. It's based on algorithms, uh, we're just
saying let's slow this traffic down so that we don't have issues for our children in
the neighborhood.
Throgmorton: Okay. Got it, thank you. Anyone else? Good evening, Brandon!
Ross: Good evening, uh, Brandon Ross. I, uh, I'm wondering if, uh, considering that a
lot of people in this city are concerned that we are building past our atmospheric,
uh, capabilities that the, uh, the traffic itself, uh, that the number of cars per, uh,
unit is probably well over, uh, what the average should be in accordance with
global, uh, standards right now, uh, scientists who are talking about lowering the
carbon, uh, the carbon imprint. Uh, given that, I wonder and I ask the Council
after I'm done to possibly comment on, uh, what's public transportation, uh, what
trans .... what transportation is there, uh, to come to this area so that it can reduce,
uh, traffic also. Many people are not, uh, driving, uh, as much and course they
shouldn't be. Uh, I'm in a household of three adults, only one car. Um, which is
not used that often and um, you know, I'm past the age of 20 and uh, I still walk
and bike everywhere. I see Mayor Throgmorton, he's even past the age of 30, and
I see him on his bike, and uh, you know, I'm thinking that we are building, I do
see him on his bike! Some people are laughing back here (laughter) but they
think that he can't do it, but this guy moves. This Mayor covers a lot of ground on
two wheels (laughter) and uh, I think that, uh, Mayor, you might be the senior
member, don't wanna.... I don't wanna bring speculation of this Council and you're
on the bicycle. So .... are there amenities for bicycles to be, uh, used, instead of
cars, uh, always we get into a wrangle about, um, engineering, road engineering,
engineering roads and engineering parking and engineering, uh, you know, but
really, you know, if Greta Thunberg were here, some of you might have heard of
this Scandinavian, uh, youngster who has pointed out that we cannot keep
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building this way, and that I would like to put all of these very nice neighborhood
people's minds to rest, if in fact we didn't need the cars very much at all.
So.....are there other options, other than chicanery and traffic engineering that we
can engage in for this project to make it a model for not only Iowa City, but for
other communities. Thank you.
Throgmorton: Thank you, Brandon. Anyone else?
Miller: Good evening. My name is Bruce Miller. I live at 908 Bluffwood Drive and I
have a nine-year-old daughter and from my house to the local park, she's gonna
have to cross, um, Hickory Trail, and if that increased volume, as well as
increased speed, is not dealt with, she's gonna be in a very unsafe situation, and
there's not a really good place to even cross. There's not a four-way intersection
with stop signs. There's no stoppage from our place to the park, and so I'm really
concerned about her safety and hope you guys look at, you know, how we can
control the volume as well as the speed to make things safer. Thank you.
Throgmorton: Thank you, Bruce. Hi, Sara!
Barron: Hi. Uh, Sara Barron, Johnson County Affordable Housing Coalition. Um, I, um,
am interested to learn about the different, um, strategies being proposed for this
neighborhood that include some kinds .... that kind of keep some folks out of the
neighborhood or reduce the traffic in certain ways, and I .... I just simply want to
say, um, if you find that some of these strategies are needed for the safety of
children or for reducing traffic on streets, that you make it an equity priority that
these same safety functions be extended to streets throughout Iowa City that have
children play on them and other things, that it's great that these neighbors are here
advocating for their neighborhood, um, you know, that's wonderful, um, and also
there are many other people who are not represented here tonight who need
similar safety and traffic consideration given to their neighborhoods, um, and
because you are talking about public investment, I wanna make sure that if you're
investing in one neighborhood in this way, that you're prepared to do that for
neighborhoods throughout Iowa City, regardless of the assessed value of the
homes that are located there. Thanks!
Throgmorton: Thank you, Sara. Anyone else? Hi there.
Bowman: Hi! I'm Nick Bowman. This is also my first time here (laughs) Um....
Throgmorton: Hold on! Could you please write your name down. (both talking) Good deal!
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Bowman: Uh, I live on Hickory Trail, uh, which is kind of the main street that's going
through there. Um, so I .... I don't know nearly as much as my neighbors who
have put way, way more thought and time and effort into this, yo know, and so I'm
sure I concur with many of the things they've said. Um, I guess I wanna broach
an issue that just hasn't been brought up, to my knowledge, uh, that's of concern to
me. Um, so in the last month or two we had several animals in our neighborhood
who were found, uh, dead and eaten, um, and so, uh, someone contacted
Department of Natural Resources to look into what this was. Uh, and they, uh,
decided that this was likely the act of coyotes, um, okay, and one of these was a
deer, too. We're not just talking about little animals. I mean we're talking about
really serious, um, stuff, and so if you think about sort of where our neighborhood
is situated, we've got, um, Hickory Hill Park on the west side. We've got, um, you
know, basically to the south we have, uh, additional housing. Uh, to the north and
a little bit to the east it is wilderness, including, you know, this area that's gonna
be developed and actually if you go just a hair east of our neighborhood then you
have farm land. Um, so I'm no coyote expert. I did a little bit of reading. They
apparently run 40 miles an hour. They're kind of, um, scary, uh, creatures, so I
think about we have a lot of dogs, uh, my partner and I have two of our own dogs,
um, you know, that sometimes, you know, and now we're scared to leave them out
at night. Um, I mean in the neighborhood we have already. So what happens if
we've got, you know, so if you think about where they live, they probably don't
live in the farm land. They don't live in the neighborhood. They don't live in the
park. They probably live in the wilderness, that part of which is going to be, um,
torn up and replaced with houses. Um .... so basically I ... to myself, like if
something happened to whether it's, you know, our dogs or our, uh, we just had a
neighbor move across the street from us with a two-year-old child, um, which not
only thinking about traffic, but thinking about, uh, wildlife. Um .... I couldn't look
myself in the mirror if I didn't come here today and let you all know about this
and let you know what a major concern this was, you know, in terms of jumping
into something right away. Um .... and so I think it's really important to consider,
you know, as you make your decisions that they give out how quickly to move
forward and things of that sort, cause I don't, you know, I couldn't tell you
whether coyotes live here, but if. ... if they live somewhere, it's going to be in the
wilderness nearby, you know, if they're attacking animals in our neighborhood,
and just the idea of seeing, um, you know, someone in our neighborhood get hurt,
um, you know, now that's in your control. Um, who knows what would happen
with this, uh, but you have the authority, you know, to think about, you know,
what's best for the safety, um, of everyone in our community. Thank you.
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Throgmorton: Great! Thanks, Nick. Good evening again.
Thiel: Hi. Kristi Thiel, um, this is not my first rodeo but, um, this is .... it's a pleasure to
speak here again tonight and I appreciate the opportunity as one of the taxpaying
citizens of Iowa City to come here and discuss my concerns with the development
of the property north of us. Um, I am the neighbor with the two-year-old. You
can probably hear her crying out in the hallway right now. Um (laughs) I tried to
keep her in here but, um, she can be a bit disruptive and just as this development,
we feel is being very disruptive to the way of life that many of these residents
have enjoyed for 20, 30 years. Um, and the reason that we moved into this
neighborhood, as my next door neighbor Michelle much more eloquently than I
ever could articulate, the vibrancy and the feel of this neighborhood. We don't
have to be like every other neighborhood, and I understand Councilwoman Mims
that there isn't sufficient developable land in Iowa City, as you mentioned in the
first Council meeting, but do we need to develop more land? How many houses
are currently on the market? Is there a demand for large houses? Is there a
demand for houses that are really close together? Or can we create something that
is continuous and congruent with the neighborhood that we have now. So we're
not against the rezoning, but we would respectfully ask that the plat decision not
be made tonight. I felt a bit .... like the wool was pulled over my eyes through this
process. Um, I'm a scientist by training and there are very clear steps in methods
for doing an experiment. You have a hypothesis, you test it, you analyze the data,
you come to a conclusion, and then ... you perform the next experiment, based on
the results from the previous conclusion. I felt that putting together the rezoning
and the platting together was kind of like putting the cart before the horse.
Shouldn't we make one decision before we make the second? Councilman
Thomas brought up additional concerns with traffic calming for the new
neighborhood and that we were told that it's too late. But isn't it your choice to
decide if it's too late? So I ask that you please do not .... accept the plat tonight.
Thank you.
Throgmorton: Thank you, Kristi. Anyone else? Okay, I'm not seeing anyone else. We have a
motion on the floor. I'm gonna turn to our Council Members now and we will
discuss, uh, whether.... what we wanna do with the motion to pass and adopt. So
....who wants to go first?
Salih: I wanna go first.
Throgmorton: Okay.
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Salih: I really just, you know, by looking at the area here and looking at all those people
coming here, you .... if you could remind me, there is 120 houses there, right? And
75 people sign for the petition. Unfortunately this area is only the 75, uh, 120
people. There is lot of area that been owned by only two people. That's why you
couldn't make the 20% of the protest. And .... I don't know, but the people who are
here, I really concern .... have a concern, I know that. I'm not (unable to
understand) just to make sure I like it. There is no problem, I know that you are
not against it too. But .... I'm really concern about the neighborhood concern. And
yes, those people still coming here, even though like two of them we .... we
already (unable to understand) like passing this for two. It's failed twice, but it's
still the people try, working hard, to come up with ideas, just try to make us hear,
75 people pushing the Council to hear them. And ... this is 75 out, if I said out of
120, or out of 122 people own this area, this is really, you know, more than half.
But the way that the code work is not the way that I describe it right now.
Unfortunately. But I thinks we really have to listen to those concern. I really
propose that we postpone this for now, and make sure that staff and the resident
and developer come together and find a solution. I .... I really encourage the
Council to listen to those 75 people who been over 30 or 20 years, resident of the
area, and they are concerned. They still trying hard to come up with ideas and to
present it, come here with a child who crying and, you know, by this time she
almost supposed to be in bed (laughter) Yes, we have to think about all this, and I
understand that the developer is complying with the code and everything, but as I
said before, the code is not everything. We have to look to the heart of the code,
and I really encourage you to listen to those resident. Thank you.
Throgmorton: I'd just like to make sure all of us Council Members know that what we're dealing
with right now is the proposed rezoning.
Salih: Yes.
Throgmorton: If we pass, if we approve the rezoning, we will tum to the preliminary plat, which
is what most of the comments were about. So right now we're focusing on the
proposed rezoning. Yeah.
Salih: I understand, but it's coming together and they .... they propose both of them.
Mims: I'm gonna continue to support the rezoning. Um, I think tonight, I don't know that
people have directly said it, but certainly neighbors last time said they did not
oppose the rezoning. It's the other kinds of issues that are related to that, and so I
do not disagree but what there are serious concerns and issues that are very
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justified in terms of your worries about traffic, both volume and speed, that need
to be addressed. At this moment, since we're talking just about rezoning, as you
have said in the past, or at least some of you from the neighborhood have said,
you do not oppose the rezoning of this. I think it fits with the comprehensive
plan. Um, I think it's an area that makes sense for us to rezone, and so I'm....
without delaying us anymore, I'm going to support the rezoning.
Teague: I think for the benefit of the residents here, again I think the Mayor talked about
it. Right now we're just votin' on rezoning, and then in ... in a little bit we'll start
talking about the .... the plat and sensitive areas. So I'm gonna support the
rezoning. I think many of you have, and I so appreciate all of you coming out.
I'm going to save some more comments for later. Thank you.
Thomas: I .... I just wanna.... insert my.....my comments here, because I think my concerns,
which have been expressed at the first two meetings, uh, which have to do with
the traffic impacts of this project, are addressed as a condition on the rezoning.
So while I too support the rezoning in concept, staff themselves acknowledged in
the process of the rezoning that there were traffic concerns raised by the ... the
proposed development, which were to be mitigated by one of the conditions
having to do with the traffic circles. And so .... I wanna say I think, you know, in
terms of some of the concepts that were presented tonight, the traffic circles, in
my view, with, you know, compared to the chicanes and uh.... the chokers and
some of the others that you raised, it .... it's my observation that the traffic circle
would be by far the most effective way of slowing traffic through that extension.
It would also be the most attractive way of addressing it. In fact I think it would
give a distinguishing character to the development. So in my view, it's something
that's a value ... to the development, to have the traffic circles as part of the project.
My concern was that the standard by which the circles were incorporated into the
plan, which is based on intersection distance.... block.... block lengths rather. Um,
the block length minimum and maximums for new development are, I believe,
three .... 300 -foot minimums, 600 -foot maximums and what I .... what I saw in the
proposed rezoning was a distance exceeding 600 -feet. It was roughly 800 -feet.
So it ... in my view it's a relatively minor change, but I think it's a significant one in
that these dimensions do matter. There are reasons why with traffic calming
devices and with block lengths, there are dimensions of minimums and
maximums, and that it's .... there are impacts when you exceed them. Um, so ... so
it was for that reason that I felt, uh, that, you know, I could not support the
project, because one of the conditions, namely the one related to the traffic circles,
was not quite in conformance with the standards by which the circles were
proposed. Uh, it seemed to me a relatively minor change. I know it's late in the
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process, but nevertheless, as .... as has been noted at the previous readings, it's
much easier to do something in the .... before it's built than once it's constructed.
So, uh, it seemed to me while it seems minor, something that did address the
issues of traffic, as it pertained to this rezoning. The .... the issues on .... on
Hickory Trail I think are a completely separate issue. I hear your concerns with
that. Ina way it's .... it's sort of a, it's related to the project, but separate from what
we're discussing tonight. Uh, but you know I do feel, with respect to this project,
it would be enhanced as a development and I think it would also work better for
the residents to have the, urn ... that minor change that I've been suggesting, just
simply adding a fourth circle, uh, to the project.
Teague: Eleanor .... oh! Are you (several talking)
Cole: I was gonna ask Eleanor, if I could. So in terms of this question of traffic
calming, in relation to the rezoning and the preliminary plat, at what stage do we
have the opportunity to weigh in, is that an appropriate topic for the rezoning,
insofar as it's reflected in density, or if there's some sense of intervention, can we
also address that at the level of the preliminary plat?
Dilkes: I think as we discussed earlier, which is why I was cautioning you about closing
the public hearing. If you wanted different conditions for the traffic calming, that
that was the point at which to do it, and so at this point .... the.....the developer is
asking for the lowest density zoning that the City offers and has agreed to
conditions that the majority of the City Council has agreed to. Um, I think your
discretion now, given that on the rezoning is very limited. The plat is typically...
not where your discretion lies. Um, it's more.... our.... our subdivision code's
complied with, um, and it's my understanding that they are.
Mims: I would just .... I would add another point to .... I guess where I don't quite align
with you, John, is .... a lot of the concerns that I'm hearing from people sitting out
here is not about the traffic volume or speed within the new development, which
is what that extra traffic circle would address. There is already a traffic circle at
the end of Tamarack, which will at that point, will slow traffic down from the new
development as it goes into the existing Tamarack. What I'm hearing, and maybe
I'm wrong, is the concern about that additional traffic and the speed of the
(mumbled) and the speed of that traffic, within the existing development. There is
nothing that this developer can do, in my estimation, or that their plat can do, to
address that. That is what the City needs to address with that neighborhood
through, uh, traffic calming measures that are outside of the scope of this rezoning
or this plat. Because those traffic circles are in the new development. They're not
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on the existing Tamarack or on Hickory Trail. I definitely believe we are going to
need to work with you in that neighborhood for additional traffic calming
measures, as we go forward, and a comment was made about, having actual data,
not using estimates, and that is what a lot of our traffic calming measures do is
doing actual measurements and based on those actual measurements and the
interest of the neighbors in that neighborhood, of, you know, a certain percentage
saying, 'Yes we want traffic calming of....', you know, looking at what would
work best, and I would totally supportive of our working with you as we go
forward.
Cole: To ... to that point I guess that was I guess one of my points is that in the future
there would be nothing preventing future calming efforts on the part of future
Councils, in the existing neighborhood, assuming the other criteria are met
or .... or not. (several talking)
Dilkes: Of course, and I think there is (both talking) There's a petition for traffic calming
already, as I understand it.
Cole: Okay! Yeah, and so I think that's where I'm coming from. I am hearing that
there's no opposition as such to the development itself, and you know, as many of
you know, um, I shared some of your frustrations. Development process is
incredibly frustrating. I know I've been at that podium myself, um, before I was
on Council, and in a couple months (laughs) I'm gonna be off Council, so I'll be in
your shoes as well. It's incredibly frustrating for residents in terms of when is the
appropriate time to intervene and get that intervention. Um, and that
is .... somethin' I think that we could do a much better job of, and I think we have
made some improvements on, but I think to the concerns relating to traffic, there
are going to be tools moving forward into the future that can be utilized. Um, in
terms of density, you know, my original preference was to actually have greater
density. Um, we .... I think we at some point need to make some changes in our...
in our single-family to allow different housing types, but those don't exist at this
particular time. So it does comply with our existing comprehensive plan and I am
gonna support it as far as that goes. I think to the extent there are future issues
related to traffic calming, those measures are going to be available, ub, moving
forward. So I am gonna continue to support this project.
Teague: I .... I guess I'm a little sidetracked, um, by this process, because .... I was under
the ... I understood about the conditions before, uh, closin' the public hearing. But
my assumption was when we got to the plat and sensitive areas, we would be able
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Dilkes:
Teague:
Dilkes:
Teague:
Dilkes:
Teague:
Dilkes:
Teague:
Dilkes:
to address some of the concerns of the traffic, at that point. Now I'm
understandin' that is not the case.
I .... I think that's been pretty clear the whole time, that that's what the concern was
about closing the public hearing before you change those conditions.
Right, and I guess I .... I understood like the conditions, but I didn't realize that we
could not discuss like, um, traffic calming things and make those .... kind of
requirements from the plat and the sensitive areas, because we don't .... we don't
know what all that is right now. I mean .... for the most part. It .... the plat and the
sensitive areas, we may have comment on that. We won't be able to change any
of that, is that what you're stating? Like we have to either accept it as it is or we
need to make conditions right then?
Are you talking about within the development, within the new development as
opposed to outside the new development?
So I think that was the misconception, on my part, is because... the traffic calming
items from, um, that we're discussin' right now is outside of the development. So
when we get to the plat and the sensitive areas, that's about the development.
Right.
And it's not about, you know, the traffic calming of the ... of the existing
neighborhood now.
Correct.
So that's where I kinda got sidetracked, because I didn't realize.... that.... the
existing could not be a part of our next .... next discussion. Um .... to make
conditions on the .... the streets. (several talking)
You can ... you can impose conditions on outside this development, or you can
impose, or....or do your own traffic calming outside this development, any time
you want to. You don't .... and it won't, it's not a part of this preceding. It's a diff
....it's a traffic calming program that the City has that .... that can be pursued by
the neighborhood and there's a process, etc., to put traffic calming on the other
streets, outside what .... where this new street is gonna be. (several talking) The
only thing the plat involves is (several talking) the new street. (several talking)
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Throgmorton: Geoff, did you wanna add something.... Geoff. On ... on this point?
Fruin: If it would be helpful for the Council and probably for the benefit of a lot of the
residents in the .... in the room, we could have Kent come up and describe this
traffic calming process. It's been initiated by the neighborhood, but not all the
neighbors may understand how that works, and that does apply to the existing
roadways, uh, of Tamarack and Hickory Trail. (several talking) ...worth five
minutes to go through that process (several talking) explain how that works?
(several talking)
Throgmorton: Kent (both talking)
Salib: Can I....
Throgmorton: We'll come to whatever your point is, Maz, af.... after Kent talks with us.
Ralston: Good evening, Kent Ralston, Transportation Planner. So, yeah, so separate from
the proceedings tonight, the .... Hickory Trail neighborhood, the broader Hickory
Hill neighborhood, has already filed a petition with our office for the City's traffic
calming program. So again, regardless of what occurs tonight with either the
rezoning or the plat, our staff, uh, let's just assume it doesn't happen. Nothing
happens with the development. We will move forward regardless with the
existing neighborhood to address the speeding issues, or the ... the perceived
speeding issues at this point. So what we do, the petition we have now was
signed by 50% of the affected properties, which are those that have property
actually abutting Hickory Trail, uh, not the side streets but Hickory Trail itself.
We already have that, and that's in our office, and we'll work through that, again,
regardless. From that point the next step is that we'll actually collect the data, uh,
real data, with actual devices. We'll collect the data to get travel, uh, speeds, as
well as volumes, and if the travel speeds are five, the 85th percentile speed, is
over five -mile -per -hour over the posted speed, which is 25, so if 85th percentile
speeds are 30 -mile -per -hour or higher, and it sounds like they probably are
from .... from neighborhood comments, then they qualify for the program, uh,
outright. From then we have a neighborhood meeting and everybody of those
affected properties are invited. Uh, the side streets would not typically be invited
because they're not the ones that are actually being affected by the speed on
Hickory Trail. They may be in fact those that are speeding. From there, we
decide why (laughter) Sorry (laughs) but it's true, we .... we try to ascertain what
traffic calming devices could help and what the neighborhood and then we do that
through talking to Police and Fire, Engineering, Public Works, uh, Transportation
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Planning, and then we bring back a host of options to the neighborhood and we
try to ... find consensus. If its speed humps, if it's chokers, chicanes, traffic circles,
whatever it might be. Then there's an actual neighborhood survey. So all those
resident that abut Hickory Trail would get a survey. If 60% of those residents
vote in favor, then we bring it back to the Council for your consideration.
Throgmorton: A follow-up question, uh, so .... let's assume that we approve the rezoning. I'm not
sure, I don't know if that's going to happen, but let's assume we do. The
preliminary plat gets approved, and then final plat gets approved. The
development begins. There's a new road constructed. New neighbors live in that
neighborhood. They could also apply, could they not, for traffic calming
measures.
Ralston: Correct. The .... the new neighborhood could and the old neighborhood could...
the old neighborhood (both talking) the new neighborhood is .... is established, if
that's what happens, can even reapply. We typically ask that it's a year or two, just
because of staff time, but there's no hard and fast rule. So even if they, for
whatever reason, choose not to move forward now, the existing neighborhood, or
they don't qualify, they can reapply with us, through a petition. We would require
another petition, but they can repetition a year later. Um, at some point after
we've got four or five and .... and none of them would qualify, you know, we might
ask that they not do that, uh, but yes. They can always re .... reapply. Through a
petition.
Thomas: Kent... Kent, one question I have (both talking)
Throgmorton: Hold on, John. Uh, Maz is ... was ask, wanting to ask a question. So are you
gonna just follow-up with Kent full stop or what?
Salih: No, no can go, John.
Thomas: Okay. Um .... the, so you mentioned, we .... we have the petition. We see that
there's a concern on the part of the residents about traffic. And then as you noted,
there's.... there are these standards or thresholds that have to be met in order for
that, um, traffic calming to then proceed.....
Ralston: Correct!
Thomas: ....as a .... as a process.
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Ralston: Correct.
Thomas: What if they don't meet our standards, which as you said are 30 ... 85th percentile
speeds, over 30 -miles -per -hour.
Ralston: Correct.
Thomas: What if they don't meet that? Can Council lift that requirement?
Ralston: It's the City Council's policy, correct.
Fruin: Yeah, through your budget process, you could design a project outside of...
outside of the program, but the .... the program's our way of treating these
neighborhoods equitably, so that every neighborhood goes through the same
standards and that the neighbors have a voice, and we've set that target at 60%,
but if. ... if.....if they didn't hit the speed target or if they didn't get 60....60%
approval within the neighborhood themselves, and the Council still felt
compelled, you could come in and .... and direct staff to design traffic engineering
there and we .... we could do that.
Thomas: Okay. So I think that ... I hope community, the residents, understand that we,
Council, does have the authority, if it should not meet the standards, to ... to lift the
standards and allow the traffic calming to proceed.
Ralston: I .... I would also add that there's very few streets that we've looked at where
there's been neighborhood concern that don't meet the standards.
Thomas: Which ... which would (both talking) We don't need to lift them, but I just wanna
make sure we have that option.
Throgmorton: Okay. Mazahir?
Salih: I ... I just wanna ask you, right now the resident come up with some solution or like
ideas that they thinks will be good for them and can they just move with you like
separately and now I just understand that yeah, the .... they can come later or they
can start now.
Ralston: Uh huh.
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Salih: ...of proposing whatever they want right now for the ... the area that they live at,
not that ... new development.
Ralston: Yeah.
Salih: Is that's okay that you can just take whatever they propose and help them out to
(both talking)
Ralston: Correct (both talking)
Salih: ....see which one is really gonna work out?
Ralston: Yeah, so what we're actually, yeah, no, that's 100% accurate. So from this point
forward, we'll start working with the neighborhood regardless, again, of what
happens tonight with the rezoning or the preliminary plat. Uh, the only thing
we're waiting on is our actual data collection, just because .... we don't, we have
more needs than we do time right now to collect the data, but I would anticipate
that we collect the data in the next four weeks, and then after that we would meet
with the neighborhood, um, assuming they qualify and start the process.
Salih: I just wanna hear from the resident, do you think this is good idea? Now you can
just like (several talking in background) because, can I ask or not? (several
talking) You know, just if you .... if someone can come and say is that something
really gonna satisfy you?
Protextor: Well let me go back to some (laughs) politicians and say trust but verify?
(laughter) Um, so far we've tried to verify some things and then the, uh, goal
posts get moved. Uh, cause we had understood, coming into this meeting, that the
two, even though the new subdivision plat and our existing subdivision, if we
wanna do some, uh, traffic calming methodology and work with the City on the,
can't do it later! You gotta do it right now or get it stopped for two weeks so that
we can meet with City staff. I think that was, Eleanor, you that suggested that
they're two tied together. Um, so I could be wrong interpretation or (both talking)
Dilkes: For the street that is ... the new street. Not the existing streets.
Protextor: Well, that's not what we've been told, so (both talking) stand corrected then.
Dilkes: The applications only deal with the new street. There's no approvals that the
Council is giving to anything outside the new street.
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Protextor: Okay, then to your question I guess, we would just like to sit with the, uh, two or
three options we've suggested, or maybe uh.... uh, Mr. Ralston has other ideas, uh,
we don't want any trees, cause we know that that study is invalid. The tree idea
option. Um, we have ... if we could sit back down with them as soon as possible
and get some feedback from the greater membership of our network, our
neighborhood, then we wanna explore those. I'm not one to be saying this is the
best one or not the best one. I'm just one or two of us that have proposed some of
these ideas. We want the rest of our neighbors to have some feedback as well, but
we didn't feel that we had another voice past tonight. That was our feeling all
along. Uh, we thought, well, it's kinda like go away after the plat's approved. We
don't warm talk to you about, uh, calming. Now do we have to come back, you
were talking about Hickory Trail. Do we have to come back as Tamarack
residents. The way I'm reading, listing here. Do we have to come back as
Tamarack residents and get a petition signed by .... well we can get the petition
signed by every Tamarack, uh, neighbor. Um (mumbled) say we want a traffic
calming study as well as the Hickory Trail? Or can you blend the two together?
Fruin: We'll blend the two together.
Protextor: Okay, that's all (both talking)
Salih: Okay, I guess if you .... if you feel this is good solution, because... go ahead!
(several talking)
Edwards: So, I'm a walker, like all over town, and I notice the speed now because it's
become an issue on our street. I have a question for you! How effective are these
calming methods, cause where I .... where I am I see little, you know, light signs
up, 25 -miles -an -hour. Looks to me like a lot of these things don't work. They're
like kind of like meditation. You have to practice. You have to do it all the time.
You have to keep reminding people. So I'm wondering, you know, we're talking
about doing a study on Hickory Trail. Is that gonna .... is that gonna really do
something and then we're going to get this other thing and then we're gonna have
to wait a year for that to like, you know, uh, you know, I don't know, cause
enough problems that we'll have to get another petition, you know, I don't know
about you but I've got a career. I can't spend my life, you know, doing traffic
control. So I'm wondering, how effective are these calming studies that you've
done and how effective are those .... those things that you put in place?
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Throgmorton: Good question and we've applied traffic calming measures all over the city and
they tend to work pretty well. So, I ... I, we can't continue to be engaging in a lot
of back and forth and interaction. Uh, that ... is not a good way for us to proceed.
Salih: But in this case, because now we have .... if I understood that the resident will be
satisfying on, like just dealing with the ... with the, you know, the staff on like....
Finding traffic calming measurement, you know, in Hickory Trail or you know
like outside the new development, which is ... that the concern, I can just vote,
because I'm not against the development, you know, for this area. I'm not want...
I want those people to be satisfied that they will work with the staff to do
something to satisfy them and address their concern. When I ask them, I will
understand that they are satisfy so I can vote for the developer! You know, that's
why. I have to .... I guess there is .... nothing will prevent me from making sure
those people, you know, are satisfy so I can also vote for .... for this, since this is
not gonna affect my vote, it's not gonna affect, you know, I don't wanna feel like
I'm the bad guy because, uh, I'm not. I'm not against the developer at all, but I
want to make sure this is, uh, this people are satisfy.
Throgmorton: Okay.
Salih: That's why I been asking them.
Throgmorton: Okay. Did you wanna say something?
Taylor: I was just going to say that over my years on the Council, I'm impressed with this
group of residents. We've seen a number of people that come to talk about
potential developments in the area, uh, but your vigor and enthusiasm and coming
together, cause obviously the phrase 'stronger together' holds very true, and
particularly in this instance, but I think, you know, we're kind of goin' round and
round here and again moving away from the decision we're actually supposed to
be making as far as the rezoning, which as I said before and you again said, we
heard from the majority of you that you're not totally against the rezoning, uh,
development is good and .... and hopefully it'll be a nice development there, uh,
but you were concerned about some of the other things, and I was concerned. I
think John and I had talked a while back about, uh, the estimated numbers of
traffic and what we really would of liked to have seen was what the speed is on
those streets — Tamarack Trail and Hickory Trail both. So I was happy to see...
hear from Kent that ... that is going to be done. I wasn't sure on the timeframe on
that. I don't know if I can ask him that, what kind of a timeframe. Hopefully it
would be urgently and (both talking)
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Mims/ ...up to four weeks.
Taylor/ Okay, that'd be good. I must have missed that, because that would be good and hopefully
that ... that would help you folks, as far as the study and then actually getting it
done. If it's decided on the speed humps or whatever it might be, cause I've seen
that work. Uh, I live very close to Teg Drive, which many years ago, uh, there
was concerns about the speeds on that, cause it's right along the park and it's kind
of a north -south freeway for folks and, uh, they applied several, uh, more humps,
not bumps, and that's been very successful. You don't see people exceeding even
25 -miles -per -hour on that street. So I think that is one option that could be a very
good, uh, and going back to the original decision, I mean, we've just been told all
along that, um, it...it complies with the comp plan and that's supposed to be what
we sort of base our decision on. Um .... so I think we have to keep that in mind.
Throgmorton: Okay, I'm the only person who hasn't spoken about this. Um, I have voted for the
rezoning in the two previous meetings. I've not seen any compelling reason to
change my mind about that, uh, so I intend to vote for the rezoning. I think
you've been very clear about your concerns about traffic speed and any
implications that might have for safety of anybody, especially kids, in the
neighborhood. So I think it is important for our City staff to work with you later
on about traffic calming, but I .... I .... with regard to speeds on Tamarack, after it
is .... after it is built, that's when you'll really have an opportunity to converse with
them about traffic calming measures on Tamarack. Right now what Kirk is ... or
Kent is referred to is, um, a traffic calming study for Hickory Trail, okay? Well
that's underway and we'll get results about that and we'll all learn from that. And
I'll bet something will be done in response to that. But ... we won't do traffic
calming for Tamarack until we get some data (laughs) about how much traffic is
out there, uh, how fast it's going, whether residents along Tamarack, the whole
stretch of it, want ... to see traffic calming measures adopted, and if they do, we'll
engage in that process, working with you to, uh, to adopt relevant and useful, uh,
traffic calming measures.
Teague: So, Mayor, I'm a little confused, because.... there was a question that was just
asked, for clarification, about if Hickory and Tamarack will be done together, you
know, in this traffic calming, and so I know the residents are here and... and maybe
you're, as I am, right now a little confused. So .... Geoff, you just mentioned
Tamarack and Hickory.....
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Fruin: We .... we are going to .... it's already been initiated. The neighbors have already
initiated a traffic calming request through Kent Ralston's office. Um, that is
underway. Um, we are scheduling the .... the data collection portion, which is
really step two, right? The resident's petition is step one, step two is the City
collects data. Step three is the neighborhood meeting, and then we go .... and we
go from there, and if we get approval from the neighborhood, if we get consensus
and approval, it'll come back to Council. That happens immediately, irregardless
of how you vote tonight, Kent and his team are going to collect the data within
four weeks is our target. Uh, and shortly thereafter, after they have a cha... chance
to analyze it and prepare some options, they're gonna... they're gonna call a
neighborhood meeting and .... and have a meeting to discuss those options. From
there it's consensus building within the neighborhood, before it comes back to you
for approval.
Throgmorton: So let me ask a follow-up question to make sure I did not misstate myself. If I
did, I'll backtrack a little bit. So the traffic calming measure that's currently
underway.... that Kent has been referring to and you just described, will be for
Hickory Trail subdivision, and Tamarack, from .... from the roundabout at the top
of Tamarack, all the way down to Hickory Trail.
Fruin: (both talking) Yes.
Throgmorton: Is that correct?
Frain: Yes.
Throgmorton: Okay, good. So I misstated myself on that. What .... what I meant to be referring
to is ... traf..the traffic that will be generated by the new development and what
that implies for traffic volumes and traffic speeds, on the whole stretch of
Tamarack. That's what I was referring to (both talking)
Fruin: So .... so in .... in five years if this new subdivision's completely built out and the
conditions change, we can come back and look at it again, you know. Five years,
I just threw out, but when conditions change, we can revisit any traffic calming
improvements that we may have made, you know, a few years earlier.
Throgmorton: So, Bruce, I hope that helps clarify, and .... by correcting what I said.
Teague: Yes, and I wanted to make sure that the residents got clarification on that piece.
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Salih: And it will come to us after that, right?
Fruin: The Council votes to approve the traffic calming project, yes. You typically see
speed bumps. So if you're used to seein', I don't know we do, uh, a handful of
these a year and you'll see'em on your Council agenda. Uh, we just did Willow
Street approval maybe last meeting or two meetings ago. Uh, you typically see
speed humps, but those aren't the only options that we'll present. We've tried
chicanes before. Those weren't necessarily well received when we tried 'em, but
we .... we're willing to try, uh, the other options that have been suggested.
Taylor: And just to clarify, those options don't have to wait for our budgeting process.
They could be (both talking)
Fruin: ...we have an annual budget line for traffic calming so that we can be responsive
throughout the year and we don't have to wait for the budget cycle.
Salih: Then I guess, uh, you .... this means that gonna come to us again, and we will
make, I will make sure you guys are satisfy! And I don't say we. I will make sure
you are satisfy. Uh, but then I guess that's a good deal (both talking)
Throgmorton: Okay, we have a motion on the floor.
Dilkes: Can I just note that Item 14 on your agenda tonight is the Willow Street traffic
calming project. So you're voting on one tonight.
Throgmorton: Good deal. Thank you! Okay, uh, without objection I'm gonna ask Eleanor to,
uh, call a vote on this. So roll call please. Motion carries 6-1. And that is ... it's
passed and adopted 6-1.
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10.b. Tamarack Ridge Preliminary Plat and Sensitive Areas Development
Plan — Resolution approving the Preliminary Plat and Sensitive Areas
Development Plan of Tamarack Ridge Subdivision, Iowa City, Iowa (SUB19-
09)
Throgmorton: Could I have a motion to approve please?
Mims: So moved.
Teague: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Mims, seconded by Teague. Good evening, Danielle!
Sitzman: Good evening, Mayor, Council. Danielle Sitzman, NDS. Let me just (mumbled)
here. So this is the preliminary plat and sensitive areas development plan for
Tamarack, uh, Ridge Subdivision. Um, this is the rezoning that you just
approved. This is the land area in the dashed area that was just rezoned, and this
is the preliminary plat, uh, to establish the subdivision of land and the layout of
lots and roadways within it. Um, this is the preliminary plat itself. Um, it's
oriented with north towards the left-hand side, so the streets actually running
north -south. Uh, it is a 60 -lot subdivision, uh, si.... single-family lots oriented
along the connection of Tamarack Trail, from the existing stub street, all the way
up to the north to Scott Boulevard, with a cul-de-sac off of that, uh (coughing,
unable to hear speaker) Um, there are designed into this, uh, six ... 26 by
(mumbled) .....foot wide street wide and several, uh, traffic circles. Um, this one
is an existing one on the north end of Tamarack Trail. Then there are two more
along Tamarack Trail and, uh, like I said a cul-de-sac there. Um, there are no
east -west, uh, connections available, um, because of the topography of this
particular site. There were two conditions just placed at rezoning, that ... one of
which had to be, uh, upheld at the, through the platting process, and those are
those traffic calming measures, like I just mentioned — the street width and the
incorporation of, um, the traffic circles, into the final design. There is another
step after this in the platting process. This is just the preliminary plat. So we will
continue to monitor the design of this subdivision through that next application,
when the, uh, Public Works and Engineering staff actually review, um, final
construction drawings for those streets. In addition there's another condition on
the planting of streets, uh, in the .... trees in the .... in the street right-of-way. So
when staff reviews a preliminary plat we go through a series of steps, uh, of
reviewing components of the plat, and that includes compliance with the
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comprehensive plan. In this case the, um, similar to the rezoning we find that the
comprehensive plan intent has been upheld through the design of this subdivision
(clears throat) You'll see both the citywide comprehensive plan and the district
plan referenced here, they're a little bit older and (clears throat) this particular
design is a bit of a, uh, adaptation of, uh, those two plans, but overall, um, the
extension of single-family housing in this area, uh, complies with the
comprehensive plan. We also do review streets and circulation, and has been
mentioned earlier tonight, we did look at traffic generation, and the assignment of
those volumes of traffic and where they would be accessing, uh, the surrounding
street network. Um, based on those estimates (clears throat) excuse me! We
actually find that the, um, amount of traffic at some of the intersections will be
decreased because of the additional ways for traffic, uh, to access the surrounding
network, other than the sole access point at First Avenue that currently exists. Uh,
the network beyond this neighborhood does have capacity to accommodate the
additional traffic generated by 60 single-family lots. In addition, um, we've been
talking about the traffic calming program, which is for existing, uh, public streets,
um, and there's also, uh, in addition to that, above and beyond that CIP projects,
uh, envisioned for the surrounding street network. We do evaluate pedestrian
connections and the layout of blocks and lots. Um, in this case sidewalks are
required and will be built on both sides of all streets. Um, there's not a .... a
traditional street network grid... network in this neighborhood, but we have tried to
emulate that through the (clears throat) location of those traffic circles, at about
the design, um, requirement for, um, the block lengths. So as, uh, Council
Member Thomas alluded to earlier, anywhere from 300 to 600 -foot block length if
what's encouraged in our subdivision design. There are some exceptions that are
allowed to that, and of course specific topographical, uh, constraints, and um,
we ... have evaluated that with the ... with this plat and feel that what's been
designed is appropriate. There are additional, uh, environmental sensitive areas
included in this, uh, area. Um, this is not a ... was not an OPD or planned
development overlay rezoning because the, um, applicant has actually complied
with our ordinances requiring protection of those types of environments. Those
include critical and protected slopes of which they are not disturbing more than
the allowed, um, area. Also protection of woodlands, which they are satisfying,
and they have investigated the potential for archaeological resources, um, and that
has been, um, addressed satisfactorily. There will also be a requirement for
neighborhood open space. Um, due to the proximity of the, um, neighborhood
park in this area, staff feels that that can be satisfied by a payment of fee in lieu,
uh, to, uh, the equivalent amount of land that would need to be dedicated (clears
throat) in the future. That will be evaluated, sorry, let me go back a step. That
will be evaluated at the time of final plat. Um, we also evaluated at this stage the,
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um, storm water calculations and the proposed, uh, way to, um, contain or manage
the storm water, as well as provision of public utilities. Um, detailed construction
drawings for the proposed storm water facilities will be evaluated with the final
plat as well. So talking about those steps in the development, highlighted in blue
is the step that we're at now. This land has been previously annexed and rezoned
to an interim district. It was just rezoned tonight to that, uh, single-family zoning
district. (clears throat) Like I said, this is the preliminary plat and sensitive areas
development plan. Following this there will be a separate application for the final
plat. That will come back to you, and then staff would review the final sensitive
areas development plan. So based on our staffs review of compliance with the
previous conditions placed at rezoning, the comprehensive plan, and the
applicable subdivision standards, staff did recommend approval of the proposed
plat. At their August 15th meeting, the Planning and Zoning Commission voted
6-0 to recommend approval of this to you tonight, with no additional conditions.
And that concludes staff report!
Throgmorton: Any questions for Danielle? I don't hear any. Thank you, Danielle. Uh, would
anybody like to address this topic, maybe adding to things you've said, because,
you know, we've already heard the earlier comments about.... traffic calming and
so on. Good evening.
Welch: Good evening. My name is Michael Welch. I'm with Axiom Consultants,
representing the developer on this project. Um, I haven't spoken to you through
the rezoning process at all, but um, would like to talk to you a little bit about the
preliminary plat and the process. Um, guess I'd like to start a little bit about
myself, since, um, it seems like through this process there's been questions about,
uh, who's preparing stuff and how that works, um, so I am a professional
engineer, practicing for 17 years, and I'm licensed in four states, including Iowa.
Um, through this process and our process at Axiom and my personal process as
a .... as a professional, um, I really look to work with our client, the developer, and
bring projects forward that .... that meet the code and meet staff concerns, and
address neighborhood concerns, and we ... we were aware at the start of this project
there would be concerns from the neighbors. Um, so with that I kinda wanna talk
through that timeline a little bit, and how we got to where we are tonight and
through this process that we've been to. Um, so we started with the developer in
April, lookin' at this property and kinda working with them on concepts and
evaluating the sensitive areas that we knew existed on site and how that ... that
process would work and .... and what was available to develop and what made
sense. Um, it ... in the middle of May, um, we brought a concept to staff, to Anne
and Danielle, and .... and sat down and talked through, here's what we're
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proposing. It was similar to what we had, what we see tonight. Um, we had 61
lots instead of the 60. We had wider streets. Um, we didn't have any of the traffic
calming and it was, um, but otherwise fairly similar. Um, and (mumbled) took
that to staff the following day at their weekly staff meeting, and during that we
got some feedback from staff, and that included that they had concerns about the
traffic and the speeds that would exist coming down Tamarack Trail and to
Hickory Trail. Uh, so they requested that we go to the code minimum of 26 -foot
wide streets. They requested that we add a traffic calming circle in the, um,
included the street tree requirements. Originally we had a storm water basin in
the southeast comer. Well that's actually the lowest point to the site. Uh, staff
asked that we see about moving that to preserve the trees that were there, and that
preserved more of that wooded area and see if we could relocate it, um, so as a
result of that meeting and that feedback, we came back with a concept early in
June, that has what you see today, um, so we still have 61 lots. We had three
storm water basins on the west side of Tamarack. We preserved more of the
woodland on the east side. Um .... and we incorporated the traffic circles that you
see now, with the addition at Buckledown Circle, that intersection, and then the
one to the north to come and.... simulate those blocks that we talked about. Um,
after that, on, uh, on June 10th, we had a public meeting. Um, per the .... um,
City's recommendation and procedure for the good neighbor meeting, it's
requested that you notify neighbors within 300 -feet of the development. We
looked at that, uh, for this particular development, that would have been 10
houses in the Tamarack and .... and Hickory Trail neighborhood, that would have
needed notification. We saw that, thought that doesn't make any sense, um, could
have kind of anticipated how this was going to go with rezoning and people's
concerns, so we sent that notification out to 140 properties, which is all the houses
on Tamarack Trail, all the houses on Hickory Trail, and the cul-de-sacs. Um, so I
think it's really important for (clears throat) for you as Council to know that, and
uh, for the neighborhood to know that .... that we .... we're interested in their
feedback. Knew that this would be an important change to their neighborhood for
them and so kind of proactively wanted to include them to get their .... their
feedback. On June 10th we had the good neighbor meeting, um, unfortunately I
forgot to get a sign-up sheet out, but it was, um, probably one of the best attended
good neighbor meetings that I've been involved in and I'd say maybe three times
as many people that are here tonight were at that meeting for that hour and a half
that we had it. Um, the developers were there, myself, and Ray from City Staff
was there. Um, we had a good, I think we had good dialogue over that ... over that
hour, hour and a half. Um, a lot of questions came in, including, you know, what
was the zoning going to be, would there be multi -family, um, what was the .... the
density going to be, what was the lot size gonna be, and how did that compare to
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what they currently had and would it affect their house values, if they chose to
sell. Um, lot of comments from the side yard setbacks. We went with the City's
code minimum of five -feet, and that's what the development has and is proposing.
Um, there was concerns obviously about the traffic on Hickory Trail and
Tamarack. There was concerns about the loss of...of wooded areas. There was
concerns about storm water and erosion. Um, a lot of the neighbors were under
the impression that this property was part of the conservation of, um, Preservation
Farms. It would never be developed and some of them unfortunately had been
told by their realtors or by people in the neighborhood that this couldn't be
developed, um, so there was a lot of, kind of a, I think an education,
unfortunately, for the neighbors at that meeting, that that wasn't the case, and I
think that's a hard .... a hard message to hear if that's what you've been thinking
and that's where you've had your home for 10, 15, 20 years. Um, so as a result of
that meeting, or after that meeting, we meet down as a design team and a
development team, and looked at the plat, and looked at what we could do, and
the decision was made to lose one lot, and in doing so we went from minimum lot
size of 65 -feet wide to our minimum now is 70 -feet, with many of the lots wider
than 70 -feet in that buildable area. Um, for comparison, the existing Tamarack
and Hickory Trail, I think it averages around 84 -feet wide, but I think it's
important to note that that was developed 10 -plus years ago and .... and economics
and lot sizes and that is .... is come to play into those narrower lots are .... are kinda
what's currently affordable and fits within the economics of development. Um, so
after that, that meeting, I was actually contacted individually by one of the
neighbors who wasn't able to make the good neighbor meeting, and so I met with
him personally and .... and just went through the process and heard his concerns,
and most of them were similar to his neighbors. Um, and then on June 27th is
when we submitted our rezoning application, and that preliminary plat
application. And we went through the process with the City, which includes, you
know, the rezoning meeting with Planning and Zoning, preliminary plat with
Planning and Zoning, and then through staff on comments on preliminary plat.
Uh, so I guess all that to say .... is that I understand for the neighbors
where... where change in your neighborhood is a ... is a, is kind of a big deal for
you, and it's important to have your feedback, but I also think as a development
team, that we were very sensitive to .... to those concerns, and worked closely with
staff to address those concerns ahead of getting.... ahead of that preliminary plat
submittal and rezoning submittal, and we incorporated those features that you see
today have been in there from the beginning, um, and that wasn't an accident.
That isn't because we had to. That's because we saw them as .... as valuable and
beneficial, and understood those concerns and wanted to incorporate those. So
when we got to this point, we could say in good faith that we worked with the
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neighbors, we listened tot heir concerns, we did what we could within our
development and the area that we have control over, to make those .... make those
changes and incorporate those features. Um, so I guess a couple other things that
I, you know, I think is .... it's kinda been fleshed out now, but again, I wanna
reiterate, as a developer and as a designer, we can only take care of the stuff
within our property. We can't.... effect what the traffic is doing or what the City
does with traffic outside the development. Um, if. ... if through that process that
the neighborhood feels that they need additional assistance outside the City, I
would be happy to work with them to do that, um, if that's .... they felt or
recommend that they work with someone, if they feel that they're not getting what
they want from the City in that process. Urn .... couple other things to point out. I
think in our development, with .... with regard to the sensitive areas, we are
retaining over 50% of the woodlands that are there. We worked very hard with
the developer and the current land owner to come up with a boundary that let us
do that and minimize the critical slopes we're impacting. There's protected slopes,
which by code we are not impacting and do have a buffer around. Um .... check
my notes here .... and I think (mumbled) I think that really gets to the heart of this
is that we've ... we feel we are bringing a product forward that .... that Council
can ... can approve, the neighborhood can feel good that at the end of the day, it'll
be a neighborhood that's compatible with their existing neighborhood, and uh, and
welcome any questions if Council has'em.
Throgmorton: Any questions for Michael? Thanks!
Welch: Thank you!
Throgmorton: Sure!
Kardos: Would you like me to sign in again?
Throgmorton: Huh?
Kardos: Do I need to sign in (both talking)
Throgmorton: Just I think restate your name would be sufficient. John Cordos, right?
Kardos: John Kardos (several talking in background) Um, I have a question. I don't
know, I don't believe that we received the first good neighbor letter, but that's
water under the bridge. The letter that we did get was on July 31 st from Anne
Russett and she says that the, uh, preliminary plat for Tamarack Ridge is a one -
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outlet subdivision. Now my question is, when did this change and for what
reason? In other words, this was one outlet means Scott Avenue only, with the
base closed off I presume.
Throgmorton: No, I think that can't be right. Uh, Danielle, can you possibly address this?
Kardos: I got the letter right here!
Sitzman: So the word is outlot, which is one word, meaning that it's not a lot for
development, but has lots in it that are outlots for not development. So the storm
water basin or somethin' like that. So unfortunately (several talking) outlot (both
talking) little bit of planning jargon unfortunately.
Kardos: Okay.
Throgmorton: I'm embarrassed about how many times I make that kind of mistake, John, so... it
happens. Anyone else?
Carter: Uh, Knute Carter from Tamarack Trail. I had a few comments I wanted to make.
Um, I think the development should ultimately go ahead in some form. Um, I...
agree with Council Thomas, I think there should be one additional traffic calming
measure in the actual development. Sort of got disconnected in the previous
discussion with, uh, with, we were doing the rezoning of the .... the development,
but I think an additional calming measure in there would be good, as it is. Uh,
with regard to the presentation that just took place, I think it's completely
disingenuous to claim that there'll be a decre.... well, no increase or that there will
be a decrease in traffic exiting Hickory Trail. I don't believe that any residents of
the currently existing development would probably use the northern Tamarack
route to get out onto Scott Boulevard, almost under no circumstances. I myself
wouldn't. It's probably further for even the northernmost, um, section of
Tamarack Trail to exit in that direction. So everyone else will almost always exit
on Hickory Trail, onto First Avenue. And then the new residents, it will be
quicker and closer to come through the existing neighborhood, so I don't know
how they came up with that, but that's.....that's where those assumptions come in.
It's also claimed that Scott Boulevard and First can handle the additional traffic.
The other day I was at 5:17 P.M., I was stopped at the fire station, jut off of
Dodge, for traffic backed up to get onto First Avenue. I know that there's works
in plan for 2020 and I hope that they solve that problem, um, promptly as well.
Um .... pavement, sidewalks, urn .... are great. I don't know what the conditions are
on the developers to complete those. We still have one sidewalk in our existing
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neighborhood that's not been completed on an undeveloped lot of land. So there's
like a discontinuous piece of, uh, sidewalk in our own neighborhood at the
moment. Uh, regards to the issues of storm water, uh, storm... probably should
send a different message for this, um, there's already a severe erosion of the storm
water outlet at the bottom of Tamarack Trail. So if someone wants to come and
take a look, that'd be great, and, uh, finally, uh, I just want to address the
construction traffic, and if there's any conditions on the mechanisms for
construction traffic, um, for the development and whether they'll be restricted, at
least for the good part of the first part of the .... (mumbled) development, if not for
the entire development. So only access off of Scott Boulevard potentially, rather
than using the existing neighborhood as a ..... as the main thoroughfare for, um,
construction traffic. And that may .... and if the Council would also consider
potentially not even opening the throughway of Tamarack Trail, um, would try to
be beneficiary of ultimately, um ..... to some point in the development that it'd
been built out sufficiently just to forcibly prevent the construction traffic traipsing
through the existing neighborhood when they could be coming in on off of Scott
Boulevard where there aren't any residents, currently at least. Thank you.
Throgmorton: Thank you. Hi, Brianna.
Wills: Uh, Brianna Wills. I just warm second what, uh, he just said actually, urn .... uh,
about the traffic, um, the construction traffic. Um, we were told that there would
be a way that we would encourage the construction traffic, um, to use the new
entrance, um, but I think there are ways that we can do more than encourage it. In
fact I would say that what makes sense to me is to not actually open the Tamarack
Trail, uh, road all the way through until.... there's residents actually living on the
other (laughs) side of the road. If you build, you know, the Tamarack Trail, if you
don't actually open the road all the way through until .... or if you open it and then
close it somehow and then you would force the construction traffic to use the new
entrance. Um, because I think if you have all of the construction traffic to build
60 new homes using Hickory Trail, you are going to rip up that road. Um, and
you know, when you add a whole bunch of little kids and construction traffic, you
know, I think that just exacerbates the idea of all these little kids on that road.
Um, so I think, you know, we can more than just encourage them not to use that
road, you know. If there's a way to just close Hickory, I mean, excuse me, um,
Tamarack, um, by either not having it as a full pass-through road yet, um, or
having it as a full pass-through and just physically closing it, um, until, you know,
there are truly residents living, you know, the houses are completed or some
version or some percentage of them are completed, and then opening it or
something, but having a physical barrier so that there really isn't a physical pass -
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through, so that the construction traffic truly does have to use, um, the new road,
you know, makes sense to me. So just wanted to (mumbled) (both talking)
Throgmorton: Okay, thank you.
Levtov: Hi, everyone, my name is Anat Levtov, I'm also one of the residents on Hickory
Trail and I have not been to as many, um, of these meetings as my colleagues
have. I'm very interested in a procedural question I guess at this point, which is,
um, I'm .... I'm hearing from several of the Council Members, as well as the City
Attorney, that there isn't any responsibility for the developer to be doing anything,
with the exception of where the area that they are building. So this new area that
doesn't currently exist, but is obviously connected to our road and Tamarack, and
so I....I guess what I'm wondering from you is .... is there really any point of us
being here and .... and voicing our concerns if there's really nothing the developer
is responsible for, in any way, in the area that already exists and has already built
and been there for many years. So sure, you k now, the City will consider our
application for the current traffic problems, not considering all those extra cars
and traffic, um .... but why have we all been spending our time if there's really, you
know, the developer can't do anything, but the City's only voting on what the
developer's doing, what they're allowed to do, and that's what the codes are all
about, then .... you know, I understand that there are, um, lots of rules and
procedures and ways that things function, but it sort of seems like this is a
pointless discussion if we can't control anything, if the .... we have no
responsibility to ask the developer to do anything within our existing road .... then
what's the purpose? You know, it's gonna be rezoned. There's gonna be stuff
built, and we're just gonna have to work with the traffic calming leader. So ... you
know, if the consideration is not to change your vote in any way, then wha... what
is the purpose of having this conversation based on things you cannot change or
you can't .... and I.....and I understand you can't tell the developer to do things that
are different, but what is the City committed to doing, um, and what is the
Council committed to doing for the existing neighbors in that area? Um, so ... and
...and I really just warm say I appreciate the comment about the affordable
housing. This is not something that should only happen in our neighborhood,
because our homes are valuable in some way, um, to someone else and .... and
people are voting, um, but it should be the case that this is the consideration for
every neighborhood, um, where these kinds of issues are coming up, and that, you
know, there is that consideration for the local politics. So maybe I've completely
misunderstood the conversation, but it seems like we're all sort of like, well,
there's not a whole lot we can do, from here on, you know. We'll just have to talk
about it in a year and a half, um, after the road is ripped up and the coyotes have
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eaten our neighbors' dogs, you know, so .... so, maybe that's a very pessimistic
point of view. Um, I would say that the fact that all these neighbors are here and
have been coming back all this time shows that I think they're optimistic that
you'll hear .... would like you to do something and not just say, well, you know,
can't tell a developer to change this. Well then, okay, great! Then what is the City
gonna do, um, to address the concerns that are not addressable by someone else.
Throgmorton: Could you please restate your name. I didn't hear it.
Levtov: Anat Levtov.
Throgmorton: Levtob?
Levtov: Levtov, L -e -v -t -o -v.
Throgmorton: Thank you.
Rude: For the last time, I promise (laughter) Um (both talking)
Throgmorton: Please state your name again (both talking)
Rude: Scott Rude. Sorry!
Throgmorton: Thank you.
Rude: Um, Miss Salih, you asked the question, are we satisfied. I don't think so. Um...
uh, and that's unfortunate. Um, I don't think (mumbled) uh.... Mr. Thomas, you
did have a good suggestion. I wish that it would be taken, because that calming,
one more, would probably help. I'm not sayin' it's the answer, not at all, but I'm
saying it would help. And we can't, you know, um, Miss Lovtov just said (laughs)
why are we here? Yeah! We've been here many times, and we're very concerned,
and we're just trying to get to an answer that can help us all. Um, some great,
great points about the construction, some great points about, um, ensuring that,
uh, the, urn.... the.... the issue is handled is .... is, um, is dealt with in a way where
we all can walk away and say, we did a good job. All of us. Council, the
developer, the people in the citizenry, can walk away and say we did a good job.
We made a few changes. We did some things to make a difference, and .... we
got .... we got something good and better. Um .... but as has been said, if we .... if
we just go out of here tonight and say, okay, it passed and it's over, and it's done,
and we come back two years from now, three years from now and say, gee, it sure
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didn't work out very well. Why do we do that? Why shouldn't we be proactive?
That's my point. That's my question. Thank you.
Throgmorton: Thank you, Scott. Anyone else? (both talking)
Knoche: ...Knoche, Public Works Director. Um, I just wanted to make mention that I did
reach out to the developer, asked him about the construction traffic during the...
during the construction of this project. Um, he's made a commitment to work
with his contractors to .... to, you know, direct them not to use Tamarack and...
and Hickory Trail. There's always gonna be an errant truck, so you know, we
can't .... I can't guarantee that there will be no construction traffic on the roadway,
um, but every effort will be made to .... to limit the traffic to Scott Boulevard, um,
during the construction. Um, you know, once the .... the, once we've accepted the
roadway, um, and accepted the public improvements, um, then it's gonna be on
the City to maintain that roadway, so at that point we will need to have it open to
through traffic, both for .... for, you know, for maintaining during winter
maintenance and some of those other things, but ... but, you know, so once we own
the roadway, it's our obligation to maintain it, so we'll have to have the .... the
barriers down. Um, but up until that point, we'd be able to limit the traffic as best
we can.
Throgmorton: That .... that's pretty much good news, but I need to ask a follow-up question.
How long is the construction likely to take?
Knoche: I ... I would imagine this'll be a one construction season project, so uh (both
talking)
Throgmorton: For the road itself?
Knoche: For ...for the development, as they do their grading, and they work their way
through. I .... I have not heard that they're going to phase the project, um, you
know, if there's going to be phasing involved, and that may change things, but I
imagine that .... by this time next year we probably would be looking at an
acceptance of the improvements.
Throgmorton: Okay, that's good news, but there would be subsequent construction of houses.
Knoche: Correct.
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Throgmorton: Yeah, and that's.... that's not.... subject to the same kind of constraints you just
described, right?
Knoche: That ... that would be com..I mean the roadway would be open at that point. There
again, you know, we can encourage, um, you know, that .... that they come in from
the north, but .... but, you know, that kinda goes beyond the purview of anything
that we would have to .... to put restrictions on.
Throgmorton: Yeah. Okay.
Salih: You mean the only thing you can do is encourage, but we cannot as a city just ask
'em not to come that area.
Knoche: And that's what we've done. We will ask them not to come, but I don't ... we don't
have any, we .... we don't have the ability to .... to ticket them for using the
roadway. So .... so we'll work with the developer, you know, I ... I would encourage
folks to call in if. ... if they see construction traffic, um, you know, on the
roadways. Uh, we'll have .... we'll have inspectors on site during the construction
of the improvements, um, you know, so we'll do the best that we can to ... to limit
that traffic through the neighborhood.
Salih: There is not any measure we can like implement or put there so we can make sure
no traffic will go through? During the construction time.
Fruin: If you're talking road and the grading, utilities, that's where we're sayin' we're
gonna .... we're gonna limit that, because the road's not built. After the road's built,
we accept it, and then the houses are built. It could be five, 10 years before all the
houses are built. It's not like all the houses are gonna be built in .... in one or two
years. It's gonna be a, probably a function of the market, but a subdivision like
this could take .... could take years, you know, a decade, um, to ... to fully build out.
So, um, no, we .... once... ;.once we accept it, once the road's built to our standards,
we would accept it and then it's open for traffic. So if the first house is built in
that first year, the residents of that house have access, and at that point it's difficult
for us to control the construction of a house, which may have multiple sub-
contractors coming in. So you can think of, you know, havin',um, a lot of
different, you know, got the plumbers, electricians, framers, all those folks comin'
in. We're not gonna be able to control that traffic. We're talkin' about the .... the
actual construction of the roadway, the utilities, the heavy equipment.
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Salih: Yeah, I'm talking about the heavy equipment too. I just like, I mean like can we
put a measure to make sure (unable to understand) are not gonna come this way,
they could come from Scott Boulevard (mumbled)
Throgmorton: Yeah, we can't do that after the road .... the City accepts the road as a constructed
road that meets City standards.
Salih: Even before that. I'm asking before that, can we do that? My question is before
we accept the road as a City road. (several responding)
Throgmorton: Yes.
Salih: Okay.
Throgmorton: Okay, thanks, Ron. It's, uh, pleasing to hear that the developer has voluntarily
....indicated that he would .... do what Ron (laughs) just described. Okay, um, you
know, I think we probably have heard enough to make a decision on this, cause
we're talkin' about the preliminary plat. Without objection, I'd like to hear from
the Council Members, you know, does anybody wanna say anything about
whether to approve the plat or not? What are ya gonna do?
Teague: I think I'm gonna, uh, approve the plat, but I did just wanna address the request
from the, some of the residents, about us waiting two weeks for the plat. Um, you
know, to approve this and allow you time to speak. I think as you all have saw
come out, the streets — the existin' streets — are not a part of this decision process,
and so, um, I don't think delayin' this decision today, from my personal opinion.
Um, it's gonna .... it's gonna affect the conversation potential that you could have
about your streets. So, um, I just at least wanted to acknowledge that. I am gonna
support this and I think, um, many of you I've heard the comments and I've talked
to you personally, and I hear your safety concern about, you know, your .... your
part of the street, as well as the new development, but I'm gonna support this
tonight, and ... also open more conversations with anyone that would like to have
'em, outside of Council.
Mims: I would agree with Bruce. I think .... I hope that our discussion tonight regarding
the traffic and what the rezoning and the .... and the approval of the plat does and
doesn't have to do with traffic concerns in the existing neighborhood. I hope
that's clearer maybe than what it was before, and my sense is, and I know I'm
committed and I believe all the Council Members are committed, and I think are
staff is, to making sure that we continue to work with you in as effective a way as
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we can to .... to address .... the traffic concerns that you have, both in terms of
volume and the speed. Um, I don't see where a delay of two weeks is gonna make
a difference in terms of what we can address and what we can't address at this
point in the process. So I am gonna go ahead and support the preliminary plat,
but as Bruce said, want you to know that we're .... we're here and willing to listen
and talk to you about any other mechanisms that we can use to help.
Thomas: I'll just, um, I first want to thank you all for showing up for so many meetings
(laughs) uh, both with the developer, Planning and Zoning, and now City Council,
and .... and I did wanna comment on, you know, some of the things that have just
been said regarding the street design, which has been ... it's been the conditions on
this project that have concerned me. And I .... and I wanna say that, you know,
I've been battling issues, struggling with issues, on street design and traffic safety
for close to 10 years now in Iowa City, and I .... and this project has shown some
significant progress. As was noted, the street is the narrowest standard we have,
um, the tree plantings. I know some of you may not feel it's addressing the traffic
calming as well as you might think, but it does promote walkability. It promotes a
whole range of other issues, which will improve the neighborhood. Um, and
that's part of this project. Uh, the circles, adding those circles as, you know, the
developer note, or the engineer with the development team noted, you know,
that ... that's not standard practice. So having those, uh, is also an advancement in
terms of trying to incorporated concerns about traffic safety and calming, into the
development from day one. Uh, so there .... there have been significant advances,
uh, I'm also pleased to hear that out of this conversation tonight, you know, if... if
necessary Council can lift the requirements ...... I appreciate, uh, for traffic
calming, and I appreciate Sara's comments, you know, I'm .... I really kind of
would hope this project would be a model for both new development and
addressing the impacts of that new development on the existing streets. And I
think we're pretty close to achieving that goal. So I don't think that's insignificant,
and I think, you know, you should feel that your engagement on this has made a
difference.
Throgmorton: Anyone else? Seeing no one else, uh, roll call ... oh!
Taylor: Oh I was just gonna make a quick comment that I .... I wasn't certain how I would
vote on this, but I was encouraged by a number of the comments, in particular, uh,
Ron's talking about dealing with the construction traffic, cause that was a major
concern of a lot of the folks. Uh, Kent's comments about already looking at, uh,
traffic calming study for Tamarack and Hickory. That's very, uh, positive, and
then Michael, the engineer who talked about that, uh, he, uh, was very sensitive to
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a lot of the concerns and changed some of the original plans, uh, due to some of
the concerns that were expressed to them. So I think that .... that's very positive. I
see that as very positive and .... and think that, uh, it .... there was progress made on
the plans for this. I do stress again though that, uh, the, uh, First Avenue and Scott
Boulevard intersections, uh, the improvements, I ... I hope that they can be
expedited with, since this ... this project's going I hope it doesn't get pushed down
the line in our .... our budget process, and that they could be done as soon as
possible to help alleviate some of the traffic congestion there. That's all.
Throgmorton: Anyone else? Well you took the words right out of my mouth, so I won't repeat
'em. It's well said, Pauline. Roll call please. Motion carries 6-1.
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10.c. South Gilbert Street Commercial Development — Preliminary Plat and
Sensitive Areas Development Plan — Resolution approving the Preliminary
Plat and Sensitive Areas Development Plan of South Gilbert Street
Commercial Development Subdivision, Iowa City, Iowa
Throgmorton: Could I have a motion to approve please?
Mims: So moved.
Teague: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Mims, seconded by Teague. Discussion? Hi, Danielle. Go ahead!
Sitzman: Good evening, Mayor. I'll give a brief presentation on this one as well. This is,
again, another preliminary plat and sensitive areas development plan. This is for
property located on the south side of Southgate Avenue, bounded on the western
side by South Gilbert, and the Crandic Railroad on the eastern side. The applicant
is requesting approval for a two -lot commercial subdivision. Um, there is existing
development occurring on par ..a portion of the lot and they'd like to create two
lots so they could, uh, offer the western half or western portion for development
as well. Um.....the zoning is already in place for the type of development that the
applicant wishes to pursue. It's, uh, currently zoned CI -1, uh, which is
appropriate for, uh.... um, businesses that include outdoor display and storage,
repair and sales of large equipment or motor vehicles, outdoor commercial
amusement, uh, eating establishments, office uses, and retail uses. So they feel
that they can work with the existing zoning. Um, as I said there's an existing
building under construction or, uh, in the works now, and it will be a two -lot
subdivision. They did not pursue the good neighbor policy as this is not a ... a, they
did not feel it was a significant change. This is the plat itself, again oriented kind
of sidewise, so north is to the left. Lot one is the lot that's already under
development and lot two would be the proposed lot to the south or on the right-
hand side of the screen is ... are the areas of concern for sensitive areas and also
there are storm water, uh management areas. Again staff did review several
components of the development against our standards, including the
comprehensive plan. Um, this is located in the South District and both the future
land use map of it and the South District plan identified the subject property for
commercial redevelopment, um, both because of, uh, additional residential
development to the south of this neighborhood, as well as revitalization of the, uh,
Riverfront Crossings District. Um, we did evaluate the transportation network.
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Um, there are, uh, existing sidewalks. This development will provide additional
sidewalks and there is bus service currently in the vicinity. As I mentioned, there
is, uh, sensitive areas. There's also flood plain. Uh, the developer plans to, uh,
build out ... outside of that flood plain by filling the site. They'll be subject to the
City's flood plain, um, management ordinance, as well as the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers and the Iowa DNR regulations regarding that, uh, activity. The
sensitive areas on the site include wetlands, um, several different types of
wetlands. The applicant did study those wetlands and is proposing a buffering
averaging method to protect the wetlands. Uh, they're eligible for that buffering
increase due to the relatively small size of the wetlands and the benefit that the,
um, buffer averaging would actually provide by, uh, essentially providing a larger
buffer than what would otherwise be required.... for the impact to that area.
Again, this area is an area where a cultural resource management study was
conducted to rule out the presence of, uh, likelihood of archaeological resources
and that has been completed with no further action recommended. Um, outlet A,
uh, on the .... so the site is a storm water management (clears throat) area. Uh,
early, uh, review of the site did note .... note some deficiencies. Those deficiencies
have been resolved to the satisfaction of the Engineering Division (clears throat)
Excuse me! And additional detailed construction drawings will be reviewed at the
next step of development. Uh, highlighted in blue is the stage we're at this
evening with the preliminary plat and sensitive areas development plan. That
would be followed again by a final plat, which would come back to you for
approval by resolution (clears throat) and would, uh, undergo further review by
staff as well. And then there would be a review of the sensitive areas, uh, final
sensitive areas development plan. So based on a review of compliance with the
previous conditions, which there were none at the previous rezoning, the
comprehensive plan, and the applicable subdivision standards, staff did
recommend approval. The Planning Commission did also recommend approval
to you tonight at their September 5th meeting. Happy to answer questions!
Throgmorton: Thank you, Danielle. I'd like to ask you a question about flooding.
Sitzman: Sure!
Throgmorton: So the site was inundated in 2008 .... and we have every reason to expect that more
severe flooding will occur in the future, more severe than the 2008 flood. So I
understand that one building's currently under construction, but my concern is that
building, elevating the site to just above the "1 in a 100 year ...... or the, what is it?
Hundred year flood plain .... is inadequate! Uh, it won't protect new buildings
from future flood damage. So .... I ..... I understand what the code calls for. But I
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don't .... I don't think we're doin' quite the right thing here. So .... I wonder what
your thoughts are. I know you're not an expert on flood mitigation and all that
kind of stuff, uh, but .... got any thoughts?
Sitzman: I'm a planner by trade, so of course I dabble in everything, right? I'm an expert in
nothing (laughs) and a little, know a little bit about a lot of things. Um, you
know, certainly we're sensitive to those concerns. Um, the answers the engineers
will give you are that those, uh, limits are set by studies. Those studies are based
on typical rainfall amounts. We know that things are changing. There's a
possible.... possibility that those long-standing trends are different. So we're
sensitive to those concerns and I think that's something that while there's nothing
that we can do tonight with this development, that we are obviously concerned
about (both talking)
Throgmorton: Yeah, I completely understand that answer, but it reminds me of something
Amory Lovins once wrote about energy futures. He basically said, I'll translate it
into this situation, it's like driving in one direction by looking in the rearview
minor. We need to be looking at what's coming, not what has been the case.
Precip.... annual average precipitation has increased over the past hundred years.
Peak precipitation events are worse and will get worse. So we can't (laughs)
count on past data. So I .... I don't know what to do about that. But it's not a good
situation.
Mims: Danielle, is that base .... what they're doing is based on satisfying our current City
code?
Sitzman: It is.
Mims: I think that's the answer right there, Jim. I mean if. ... of that's the issue that we
have and the concern as we go forward, it is a City code issue. Which ... that's
what it is now, so I think we support the, you know, what the developer's doing,
but again I think it's a discussion that we come back to later in terms of do we feel
that we need to make changes to that City code, to require them to fill it to a
higher level, to protect flooding in the future.
Throgmorton: I'm just stating an imminent fact (laughs)
Mims: No, I know!
Throgmorton: I'm not tryin' to criticize the developer. I'm not criticizing anybody (both talking)
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Mims: No!
Throgmorton: And I know what the code says.
Mims: Yeah.
Throgmorton: Uh, but .... any other views?
Thomas: Well there are a lot of buildings that are subject to that ... isn't that....
Throgmorton: They're already built.
Thomas: (both talking) that are already built (both talking)
Throgmorton: I'm talkin' about the, you know, new buildings and enabling construction of new
buildings.
Thomas: Right.
Throgmorton: So I'm not trying to shut down the conversation here. Does anybody wanna say
anything else about anything (both talking)
Cole: You had mentioned the good neighbor. That's usually pretty much done on the
rezoning process. You did mention that (both talking)
Sitzman: It can be done any time, if the applicant would choose to.
Cole: Okay.
Sitzman: But as this did not include a rezoning and is not a .... large change from the
existing neighborhood, they chose not to pursue it.
Cole: Okay. I guess the only comment I would make, that gets into maybe a code issue,
is I ... I do think some point in the future, separate topic, that we need to require
good neighbor in every single project that we do, but .... that's not the current code,
at this point, so .... that's disappointing.
Tbrogmorton: Any further discussion?
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Teague: I think I would just ditto what, uh, Rockne Cole said. I'm not exactly sure what
all will come in this commercial development. Um .... but I've had conversations
with people that live in the South District, and although they're very happy for all
the social services that are over there, urn .... they also want more than just that in
their community. So....and then good neighbor, conversations are always good.
So....
Throgmorton: All right, hearing no further discussion, roll call please. Motion carries 6-1.
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12. Bike and Electric Device Fines — Ordinance amending Title 3, entitled
"Finances, Taxation and Fees," and Title 9, entitled "Motor Vehicles and
Traffic," to provide uniform fines for bicycle and electric device code
violations
Throgmorton: Could I have a motion please?
Teague: So moved.
Thomas: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Teague, seconded by Thomas. Discussion? Oop, Brandon!
Ross: (several talking in background) ...say something on this issue. Uh, as I read the,
uh, the proposal, I .... I see that it says, um .... ordinance sets the fine at $15. Uh,
we're talking about bike and electric devices. But when you have a, uh, bicycle
violation, you are paying, uh, today $94. So the $15 is not what we're paying.
The $15 is basically the fine, and what you are paying above and beyond that,
which is about $80, is court fees. That's whether or not the bicyclist decides to go
to court or not. And I believe that that is a form of profiling, to start off with, uh,
because you're paying a $93, uh, fine. Now if this conversation is only about
whether or not to make, uh.... make this, uh, agree with .... with other vehicles,
then I .... I suppose I'm talking about something that's a different issue, but I would
say that anyway. Uh, I think that it's profiling. I think that $93 for a bike ticket's
ridiculous and I think that that should be definitely changed, and I ... I'm lookin' at
Susan who's givin' me good eye contact there (laughs)
Mims: No, I just got a couple of questions for .... (both talking)
Ross: Yeah, am I .... I'm addressing the right area here, right? I mean this is ... it says $15,
so I think the cat's out of the bag, we can chase it. I mean if we are not paying
$15 and to print that out and to have that and think that, uh, I think is wrong.
Naturally people who ride bicycles, uh, as a way of, uh, getting to work and such
like that generally oftentimes they're people who are environmentally concerned,
right, but most .... many people or most people who are on bicycles, uh, they can't
afford cars, and they're on bikes, and to give a ticket for $93, whereas a
bicycle... when's the last time a bicyclist killed anybody? Uh... you know, it doesn't
happen. So to be charged for something like that is a pretty big .... that's a pretty
big cost for somebody who's a working class member.
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Throgmorton: Okay, Brandon, let's see if we get .... get some fact on this. Eleanor, Geoff, or
anybody on staff who's still here, do you happen to know what the actual... fee is
that people have to pay.
Dilkes: There is a surcharge and court costs, um, but I don't have that number. I can get it
for you, before the second reading.
Mims: Okay, that was also my question, cause the agenda didn't show this as a first
reading, but it's an ordinance. So this is the first reading, correct?
Dilkes: It is.
Mims: Okay.
Throgmorton: Yeah, so please do.
Dilkes: Sure!
Throgmorton: Uh, anybody else want to address this?
Dixon: David Dixon again. Um, my .... my comment here is really in the form of a
question. Um, and it's mostly directed at Eleanor. To .... to maybe make sure that
City Council understands what discretion the police force has in whether to cite a
bicyclist under the City ordinance versus State code, and what ramifications there
are, if any, in terms of a cyclist driver's license, um, whether that's points towards
eventually revoking it or anything like that. Um, make sure that, I mean, running
a stop sign on a .... on a bicycle is still a violation of State law, in addition to the
City ordinance and is an example, um, you know, the penalties appear to be quite
different. Maybe .... maybe at the second reading that's something you can present
to Council.
Dilkes: This is the fine the Cou... the City has chosen, $15. If you disagree with that fine
.....you can .... you can change it.
Throgmorton: Okay. No, Brandon, no you (both talking) You were already up here, Brandon.
Ross: Well, I mean it's not the fine. We're not paying $15. So I mean if we disagree
upon the fine, I mean the court fees, I went to court, uh, once and I, you know,
I've only been ticketed here, uh, but ifs....it's absurd. You're talking about .... if
you're gonna make a fine $93 or $94 then it should be that, and that's what it
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should state, and then the people are aware that when they bike, you know, police
are into quotas too.
Throgmorton: I think we got your point. Thanks. Anyone else want to address this topic? All
right, seeing no one else, Council discussion? Okay, I'm not hearing any
discussion. Roll call please. Motion carries 7-0, but, Eleanor, you'll follow up on
those points, won't you? Thank you!
Dilkes: On the surcharge and court costs? Yeah.
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13. Kirkwood's English language learning expansion — Resolution authorizing
funding of $25,000 in FY20, and intent to budget $25,000 each year from
FY21 through FY24 for Kirkwood Community College (KCC) to expand
English language learning capacity in the southern end of the Iowa City/
Cedar Rapids corridor
Throgmorton: Could I have a motion to approve please?
Mims: So moved.
Cole: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Mims, seconded by Cole. Discussion? Hi, Simon, you gonna address
this for us?
Andrew: Absolutely! Good evening, Simon Andrew, Assistant to the City Manager. Uh,
this is a project that Kirkwood Community College is pursuing that we are
extremely excited about. Uh, so they provide English language learning courses
for adults, uh, throughout the corridor. Uh, this is a project that would expand
those services, uh, in the Iowa City area at the southern end of the corridor. Uh,
their goals are two -fold, uh, and you've heard both of these issues from the public
quite a bit, uh, that both employers are having difficulty fulfil .... uh, filling
positions, uh, here locally, um, and that we have lots of residents in our
community that are learning English and therefore find it harder to find a job. Uh,
that they'd be more employable if, uh, here locally, if they were, uh, had better
English language proficiency. Uh, so in order to expand these services, uh,
Kirkwood, um, estimates that they need $150,000 a year. Uh, this is a, uh, five-
year program that they are pursuing. Um, they have, uh, decided to allocate
$75,000 a year from their general fund, uh, toward that goal, and are asking
communities at the southern end of the corridor, and employers, uh, to help, uh,
foot the rest of that bill, the $75,000 a year. Uh, Council last year, uh, budgeted
during our current fiscal year $25,000 for, um, a program working with, uh,
Kirkwood or others, uh, in the region for, um, workforce development. Uh, that
was one of your strategic plan goals for the .... uh, City as well. Uh, so we were
very excited when Kirkwood came to us with this program because it fit the bill
exactly of what we have been looking for. Uh, the Economic Development
Committee reviewed this, um, with a presentation from Kirkwood staff, uh,
recently and recommended approval 3-0. And, uh, so staff is recommending that
we approve this resolution to both, uh, expend those funds in the current fiscal
year and an intent to budget the same amount, $25,000 a year, for the next four
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years as well. So it would be a, urn .... a $125,000 commitment total over those
five years.
Salih: Uh, I thinks really this is very good partnership between us and the Kirkwood is
really (unable to understand) lot people in need of, uh, English leaming. I know
that they do .... they have been doing this at the Learning Center. It's like non-
credit classes, so the people can just learn English, but my question is, is this, uh,
I don't know if you know the answer. Is this open for everyone, regardless if they
are documented or undocumented?
Andrew: That I don't know, uh, in terms of enrollment at Kirkwood, uh, in those courses.
But we can certainly find that out for ya, urn .... yeah, I don't know if, um, if they
can be accepted as students.
Throgmorton: Any other questions for Simon? Thanks!
Andrew: Thank you very much!
Throgmorton: Anybody else want to address this topic? Apparently not. Okay, so Council
discussion? You know our Economic Development Committee discussed this,
you know, when was that, a week and a half ago or something like that. Uh, and
uh, I was very impressed with what we heard and also I'm really impressed with
the partnership that involves multiple organizations. I'm really pleased about that
and had the opportunity to hear the .... the fairly recently appointed, uh, President
of Kirkwood, Lori Sundberg, talk about this in a meeting (mumbled) event about
a week ago, and I .... was impressed with her and the way she described what
they're trying to do as well, and the .... the new Dean of Kirk .... of the Iowa City
campus of Kirkwood is fully on -board with this project as well. So I.....I think
it's really a terrific initiative that is much needed in this area. (several talking)
Salih: I think, yeah....I'm sorry, Rockne. (both talking) Yeah, it really does because,
you know, I just try to register some people (unable to understand) at the Learning
Center over there at Kirkwood, and it's full! You know, there is a lot need, and
some people have to wait for like next semester because they cannot go in this
semester. Uh, this is really a very useful partnership and I don't thinks like there
is no reason anywhere to oppose this kind of programs.
Throgmorton: John (both talking)
Mims: I think one of the (both talking)
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Thomas: ....lifting barriers, um, so I'm .... I'm really pleased that, you know, we've come to
this point and can approve it.
Mims: Yeah, I'm .... I'm pleased. I think, Jim, you were involved and I know Kingsley
was and I was involved in meeting with staff from Kirkwood Community
College, probably a year and a half or two years ago, and yeah, at that point they
were trying to find out ways to expand this, but at that point in time Kirkwood
was not prepared to put more money into it. So I'm really pleased to see that
they've found a way to come up with some money and obviously they're trying to
leverage that with assistance of the municipalities and so I'm more than happy to
support this.
Cole: I love this project too. You know we always talk about the benefits of
collaborating with other entities, but this.... opportunities to actually do that are...
are more rare than what we would like, be ... just for a variety of reasons. You
know, Kirkwood has its own mission, we have our own mission, the University of
Iowa has their mission. So when those opportunities do arise, I think .... and to
address a specific need, we really have to jump on that and .... and hopefully this
particular initiative can be a template for other initiatives. I know in our strategic
plan we had talked about, you know, possibly collaborating with Kirkwood in
terms of, uh, you know, vocational education initiatives and maker spaces and
those sorts of things. Well we'll see, you know, what sort of opportunities come
forward in the future, but in terms of English opportunity and economic
opportunity that we can help fill a gap for Kirkwood, for the residents that we care
about, I think that's fantastic. You know one issue that I brought up during the
meeting, which is another topic, but you know hopefully at some point in the
future we can also support initiatives on the part of the residents to do outreach to
us to learn some of their languages too. Um, because I think that's important that
they continue to preserve and share their language as well, but what's before us
tonight is English and the opportunity for that, and uh, I'm just really excited to
see this sort of strategic partnership with Kirkwood.
Taylor: Well I think for all the reasons that have been mentioned, it's just a wonderful, uh,
win initiative for everybody.
Throgmorton: Any further discussion? Hearing none, roll call please. Motion carries 7-0.
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14. Willow Street Traffic Calming — Resolution authorizing the installation of
speed humps on Willow Street, between Brookside Drive and Muscatine
Avenue.
Throgmorton: Could I have a motion to approve (several talking in background)
Teague: So moved.
Mims: So moved.
Throgmorton: Moved by Teague.... seconded by .... Mims? (several talking) Seconded by Mims.
(several talking and laughing) Discussion? Hearing no discussion, roll call ... oh!
Sony, did you .... David, did you wanna talk.... thanks! I'm glad you moved cause
(laughs) you know, I needed the motion to let me know! (laughs)
Dixon: The bright orange shirt doesn't quite do it, huh? Um .... so.....I have a couple of
questions and hopefully maybe Kent will speak to this. Um... just recently the
City Council adopted a new speed limit on Willow Street. Uh, it was a school
speed zone limit. Um .... the traffic calming, it's not clear whether that was
initiated before or after the speed limit change. It doesn't appear the speed limit
change has been posted yet. Um, at least last I knew. Um, but .... I'm, and I sound
like a broken record, I know it, but, um ... that speed limit change needed an
engineering study. This is traffic engineering also and needs an engineer on the
job. Uh, you're talking about changing the roadway characteristics. You're
changing the roadway design. That is an engineering task. Urn... whether speed
humps are appropriate or not, I'm .... I'm not speaking one way or the other, but it's
clear that the City hasn't done the work necessary to make that determination.
There hasn't been an engineer involved yet. Um, it's somethin' that I really think
the City needs to figure out .... in a broad sense. Seems to be a systemic problem
how to address it. Um .... and then I also have a question, seems like there were
22 surveys sent out, or mail -back cards, whatever you call them. Looks like
there's 22 single-family homes, but there's also an apartment building with 64
units. The petition in the traffic calming brochure says renters may sign, and that
there's to be one signature per household on the petition, and I would assume the
same is true for the mail -back card. If you're on the petition, you oughta be able
to vote in the, when the cards are sent out. Where are the other 64 cards and ... and
were they mailed out, were they .... were any of them returned? Thank you.
Ralston: Kent Ralston, Transportation Planner. Uh, I would note that while a traffic
calming program is led by my office, the actual speed humps themselves will be
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designed by a licensed engineer and approved by the City engineer, excuse me.
Uh, like Danielle mentioned earlier, I'm a planner, I'm not an engineer. I'm a jack
of all trades, master of none, I think, so, um, as far as the question about the
additional, um, survey cards, the 64 the gentleman mentioned. Um, I don't know
how many units there are, but I'm assuming he's referencing, uh, the multi -family
building on the comer of Willow and Muscatine, which has its own access onto
Muscatine. Uh, we did contact the property manager and asked him his opinion
of the matter, and he said he would be all for the speed humps and mentioned that
they need them in their own parking lot. Um, so .... for that reason we did not
survey them, and I think given the size of the multi -family building and given the
fact that they have their own access onto Muscatine Avenue, it clearly would of,
um, not been logical, I think, to include them with the only 22.....21, 22 single-
family homes, uh, along the entire stretch of Willow, cause it would have been an
imbalance.
Throgmorton: Okie dokie.
Ralston: Uh, other than that I would mention that they .... they met all of the traffic calming
qualifications, uh, as noted in the memo, and staff would recommend approval of
the resolution.
Throgmorton: Okie dokie. Anyone else want to address this topic? Okay, seeing no one,
Council discussion?
Cole: Well the only thing, very briefly, is to assuage the public's concerns on this. We're
not doing the engineering work ourselves as a Council. Um, what ... what we are
doing occasionally there are various engineering standards that we express
preferences for, but we don't go ahead and do our own engineering analysis. So,
um, as Councilors we rely on the engineers to do that. And occasionally, uh, the
traffic field has been wrong on occasion in general, so they're.... they're not
perfect, so these are political decisions, um, based upon what we .... exercising our
judgment, but we're still following engineering standards in reaching those
decisions. Um, that's all I have to say about that.
Throgmorton: Any further discussion? Hearing none, roll call please. Motion carries 7-0.
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15. Assessment Schedule — Resolution adopting an assessment schedule of
unpaid mowing, clean-up of property, snow removal, sidewalk repair, and
stop box repair charges and directing the Clerk to certify the same to the
Johnson County Treasurer for collection in the same manner as property
taxes
Throgmorton: What I'd like to receive is a motion to approve, minus one .... uh, assessment
pertaining to 1220 Louise Street.
Mims: So moved.
Dilkes: And defer that one to the next meeting.
Throgmorton: And defer that to the next meeting. Thank you.
Mims: So moved.
Cole: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Mims, seconded by Cole.
Salih: Which one is deferring?
Throgmorton: Discussion? I'm sorry?
Salih: Which one we are deferring ... to the next meeting?
Throgmorton: Just one particular....
Salih: Did we know....
Throgmorton: ... assessment .... for 1220 Louise Street.
Dilkes: It's because that gentleman... it's because that gentleman came in today and
objected and what we typically do when there is an objection is we take that one
off, defer it to the next time. He'll be here to comment on it and staff will be able
to comment on it.
Salih: Is that the one that we receive on the (mumbled)
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Dilkes: Pardon me?
Salih: (mumbled) another one?
Throgmorton: We have a hand-written (several talking)
Salih: That the one? Okay. Yes.
Throgmorton: Okay. Any further discussion?
Taylor: I did have one quick question. The end of the list, there's like three entries for the
same address, different dates. So are we saying that, um, the City had someone
do that on all three occasions? That it....
Fruin: Yeah, it'd be separate instances.
Taylor: Separate instances.
Salih: Can I just really know how this is happening? I don't think our City's going
around to .... like.....an older street, like what the .... what the process, for ...for like
giving just go ahead and do this. Do you give out warning first? Do you put
something on the door? What ... what exactly (both talking)
Fruin: Yeah we can .... we can certainly provide you some information on that. I don't
know all the entire steps, but um, generally when you're talking about snow
and .... and, uh, tall grass, it's a complaint, uh, based system. We'll get complaints
from the public. We get hundreds of 'em every year and then we'll go out and
inspect on those complaints. Uh, we then post it and give the, urn ... uh, the
property owner a period of time to take care of it themselves. If they don't take
care of it themselves, the City has a contractor that we work with every year, uh,
for snow removal and for mowing. Uh, we'll instruct the .... the, uh, contractor to
complete that work and then, uh, we go back and we bill the property owners.
Salih: And this is from last year, right, because of snow removal, or maybe earlier this
year.
Fruin: Correct. Correct, from the winter.
Salih: Yeah, last winter.
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Throgmorton: Any further discussion?
Taylor: Another just quick question. So then obviously you trust this, uh, firm, the
contractor, uh, that they had done this work. Do they have to show anything,
they've been (both talking)
Fruin: We have picture documentation standards in our contracts. So our inspectors will
go out, I mean we don't just have the contractor go out. Our inspectors go out and
verify and then, uh, the contractor will also have to photo verify.
Taylor: Thank you.
Throgmorton: Anything else?
Salih: No.
Throgmorton: Uh, no further discussion? Roll call please. Could I have a motion to accept
correspondence from Kyle Bennett please?
Mims: So moved.
Cole: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Mims, seconded by Cole. All in favor say aye. Opposed. Motion
carries.
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16. Council Appointments
Throgmorton: Applicants must reside in Iowa City and be 18 years of age, unless specific
qualifications are stated. We have one vacancy to fill an unexpired term effective
upon appointment to the Parks and Recreation Commission. And one vacancy to
fill an unexpired term effective upon appointment to the Telecommunications
Commission, which we're gonna act on tonight, right? So .... should we be acting
on that right at this very moment? Think the answer is we should. Okay, so we
have.... urn.... let me get my thing in front of me. So .... with regard to the Parks
and Recreation Commission, we have I think five applicants for that one position,
with a male gender balance requirement. Which I think leaves us with, if we stick
to the gender balance requirement, is a choice between..... I'm gonna
mispronounce his name, I apologize, Penandjo Lemoupa and.... Winter, those are
both last names. Yeah so.....each of them has merit in unique ways. So do y'all
have a preference? Does anybody want to nominate someone?
Mims: I would say the second one. I mean .... my only concern about the first individual
is has been here like three months, and my tendency is I like to at least see that
somebody's been in the community a little bit longer than that, um, not necessarily
forever, but that would ... (laughter) Sorry, it's (several talking and laughing)
Forever is a high bar, sorry! It's gettin' late (laughs) um, three months just seems
to me like a really short time. So I ... I was more interested, um, in Blake Winter.
Thomas: Yeah, I would support that.
Cole: Blake Winter sounds good to me (several talking)
Throgmorton: All right, well there's clear support for Winter then.
Taylor: I do wanna clarify though, I think .... um, his .... the name you can't pronounce, uh,
his original application was in January, so that .... and that was the three months
he's been here. So he's been here a little bit longer since, but still not really, and
I .... I applaud him for wanting to become involved this early on in his, uh, living
in ... in the community and encourage him to keep an interest.
Throgmorton: I do too and I would hope that Juli Seydell-Johnson and others in the Parks and
Recreation Commission might be .... might be able to find a way to connect with
him and draw him in more and more. All right, so could I have a motion to
appoint, let's see what's his first name?
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Mims: Blake.
Throgmorton: Blake Winter to the Parks and Recreation Commission.
Mims: So moved.
Cole: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Mims, seconded by Cole. All in favor say aye. Opposed. Motion
carries. All right, with regard to the Telecommunications Commission, we have
one applicant to fill an unexpired term upon appointment, and her name is Kyla
Patterson. Given our decision earlier, I would recommend that we appoint her to
the commission, by earlier I mean during our work session earlier this evening. Is
there any objection to appointing her?
Taylor: No, I know Kyla and, uh, I think she will be a great addition to the commission.
Throgmorton: Okay, so could I have a motion to appoint Kyla Patterson please?
Teague: So moved.
Thomas: So moved.
Teague: Second (several talking)
Throgmorton: Moved by Thomas, seconded by Teague. All in favor say aye. Opposed. Motion
carries.
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19. Community Comment
Wu: Hi there, everyone, Austin Wu, UISG City Liaison. Uh, I guess I just want to start
(mumbled) appreciated PLAYvolution, um, proclamation, this earlier, uh, this
evening. Um, I'm also a big fan of "Blowin' in the Wind." This week I've been
listening to Sam Cook's version, um, at his 1964 album "Live at the Coppa." Uh,
I can't say I have the same velvety pipes as the King of Soul, but it's nice to hear it
on the kazoo as well (laughter) Uh, let's see, the only thing I had brought up,
planned to bring up tonight, was on the advice of the City Attorney was, uh, to
bring up, uh, the previously proposed joint meeting between UISG and the City
Council. Um, I'm glad to see that planning has got underway, um, with our, with
the Deputy Charlotte Linkitus. Um, right now we're currently aiming at a meeting
sometime in the spring semester, so probably February, March 2020, um, in the
Iowa Memorial Union. Uh, I look forward to getting to set up and seeing this go
through. Um, if there's any other questions, maybe Members of the Council have
right now I can answer them briefly. All right, sounds good!
Throgmorton: Thanks, Austin. Anyone else?
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20. City Council Information
Throgmorton: And why don't we start with Rockne and move to the right.
Cole: I don't have any updates.
Throgmorton: There you go! John?
Thomas: Um, I'm chewing away on this (laughter) Um, I just wanted to mention ... the
Horace Mann grand reopening, which was....about as sweet and transformational
event as .... as one could imagine, I mean that project was.... decades and have
been ... in the making so to speak, I mean there are lots of residents for decades
who have loved that school and in loving that school, preserved that school and
allowed this renovation to take place. I'm sorry unfortunately, um, Jim was not,
didn't have a chance to speak. It was kind of a 5 to 7 event and the speaking was
finished by about 5:10. Um, but nevertheless it was a very sweet, wonderful
event.
Tbrogmorton: Okay! Susan?
Mims: Um, I didn't get a chance to make it, but I know Cyclocross was, uh, here this
weekend and they had a little bit of rain on Saturday night, so I'm not sure how
the races on Sunday went (laughs) but it's just, you know, we are so fortunate to
have something like that in this community that is, you know, it's part of a World
Cup for a sport that isn't necessarily really big in the United States, but huge over
in Europe, and the fact that, you know, they came here and keep coming back
every year and bringing great audiences and, you know, that goes out, um, over
satellite to TV to Europe for millions, I think, of people in the audience, and I
think a lot of people here don't really realize how big a deal that is internationally,
and for us to have that, um, that attention, you know, internationally. A small
town like Iowa City, Iowa. So, um, you know, as we move on into the fall, I
just .... I just encourage people to keep looking at the calendars and all the events
going on, I mean, just saw tickets goin' on sale for Oktoberfest and, you know,
there's just, you know, got something the other day on plays that are coming up
here and there, and so just, you k now, um, well coming up this coming weekend
is, um, Film Scene. They're gonna have their grand opening at The Chauncey.
Unfortunately I'll be out of town and miss is, but just, you know, there are so
many things going on. Just make sure you're lookin' at all the various places to
get the calendars.
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Throgmorton: Pauline?
Taylor: Yes there has been a lot going on, uh, I'll try to make this quick, but uh, I've
reported on the shop crawls the Downtown District has had before and on, uh,
Saturday, September 7th they had something a little different, called 'the game day
shop crawl,' which was on a Saturday during the daytime, which was really nice,
and it just shows that downtown is vibrant and alive with, uh, many, many unique
shops and along with places to eat and drink and .... and if. ... if you missed that,
they do have the fall shop crawl coming up on Friday, October 25th, and it's a
great way to discover or rediscover, uh, what downtown really does have to offer.
Um, on Wednesday, uh, the 11 th, um, I attended an event with other community
leaders and residents of the Golf View Mobile Home Park, uh, as well as guests
from all across the country who shared their stories about the companies that are
buying up the mobile home communities, uh, all across the country. Uh, residents
living in mobile homes are some of the most vulnerable, uh, of our community
members, and I'm hoping that we as a city and the county and the state can work
together to provide more protection for these individuals, um, and on Thursday,
September 12th, as John mentioned, the grand reopening of Mann Elementary and
just to add on to what he'd said, just such a great example of preserving a building
of historic value, while at the same time, um, making additions and renovations
that .... that make it a great environment for our students. It's just ... it's a beautiful
building. Uh, later that evening I attended an event that, uh, was co-sponsored by
the Iowa Women's Foundation in cooperation with the Iowa City Area
Development Group, and the Chamber of Commerce. Uh, it was a roundtable
discussion entitled "Building Community Childcare Solutions." Uh, the Women's
Foundation has been going all across the country, or all across the state, uh,
leading discussions with business leaders, childcare providers, and community
leaders, talking about what can be done to improve access to affordable high-
quality childcare and it really is a big issue. They ....they shared an alarming
data, some of you may have heard this, that in Johnson County there are 22,168
children ages 0 to 12, yet there are only 9,267 childcare spaces available, uh,
leaving a shortfall of over 12,901 spaces. That's really alarming data, and uh, if
you missed it though, again, uh, they're having another session this Thursday at
Merge, Thursday evening, and I would encourage you to attend this, and I do
hope we can get something (laughs) I see Tracy out there. I know that's still her
dream, uh, to do that, to accomplish that and hopefully in conjunction with the
County, and I too hope we can .... we can improve that. Uh, Saturday the 14th, of
course as Susan mentioned, the Jingle Cross, World Cross... World Cup, uh,
Cyclocross event, it just ... just watching those cyclists and their strength and their
endurance, it's ... it's, you know, biking that course, it's truly amazing. It's a site to
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see and I would attend people to attend next year because, uh, there was a great
crowd and people literally from all across the country. So I hope we are asked to
host it again, and I'm sure.... sure we will. Uh, we didn't quite have as much mud
as they hoped. They like it muddy. It was a little bit damp but not as muddy as
they like. Um .... uh, also I guess congrats to the Hawkeye football team on
another great win, and then finally, I, uh, the highlight Monday I attended a .... a
cross-country track meet for Southeast Junior High, and it was a pleasure to see
Marian Karr there! It was so good to see her smiling face, uh, cause she was
cheering on her twin grandsons who were also running for Southeast Junior High,
so that was ... that was really fun to see her. That's all!
Throgmorton: Great! Bruce?
Teague: All right, last Thursday on the 12th of September, Johnson County Community
Foundation moved into their new location in Coralville, and that was a fun event
to, um, just see them. One thing is they have a community conference room that
is open to non -profits. So, um, it's a great location and, uh, great .... they are
welcoming people to host within their new, uh, facility. On Friday I did get a
chance to go to the, uh, Jingle Cross, um, and that was fun. I even saw Rockne
ridin' his bike on Sunday (several talking and laughing) Well I saw you on the
street. I went Friday to Jingle Cross. I didn't see you there Friday (several talking
and laughing) Yeah! Um, and then on, uh, Saturday "Houses into Homes" hosted
a chili cook -off for the Iowa, uh, football game, and that was a fun event. Um,
there were, uh, 14 different chili entries and it was rigged, because my chili didn't
win! (laughter) So (laughs) and then, um, on the 19th, uh, this Thursday, uh,
Reverend Bob Welsh is gonna be honored for his many years of service here in
Johnson County, um, and he'll be honored at the Johnson County Human Service,
Health and Human Services building, and that's gonna be from 8:30 to 9:30, with
a 9:00 A.M. proclamation made by the Johnson County, uh, Board of Supervisors.
Bob Welsh is a person that, um, I'm not surprised that Johnson County would
wanna recognize him, but he's been very influential within our community,
especially elderly. On this Tuesday, on the 27th, I'm gonna be drivin' a bus of
about 14 ... uh, 12, um, individuals to the capitol, where it'll be .... OIL is what it's
called, and it's the Older Iowan Legislator, where all of us will be sittin' in the,
um, legislator sleet ... seats and makin' some decisions on proposals that we'll make
for the legislation. Um, mainly based on older.... Iowans, uh, needs, and so that's
gonna be fun and Bob Welsh put this all together as only Bob Welsh can do.
Sometimes he don't give you an option to go, he just tell you you're going and so I
love Bob Welsh. And then on this Friday as we are all aware about the childcare,
uh, challenges within our community, um, at Merge at 8 .... from 8:00 A.M. to
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10:00 P.M., uh, 8:00 A.M. to 10:00 A.M., there's gonna be a childcare summit and
forum that's gonna be takin' place at Merge, so I do, uh, encourage people to come
out and just, um, partake in that conversation.
Salih: Yes. Okay I guess, yeah, similar like something (mumbled) yeah. Uh.... Pauline
and I, uh, we ... before that on the I Oth, last week, we attend the, uh, training by the
Imagine Action, which is mobile manufactured home action. Yeah, they came, a
lot people came and uh, some people from New York, some people from
Michigan and Iowa and we have that kind of training (unable to understand) You
know, met all of us, Pauline was with us, like some elected officials, County, City,
and the State, just discussing ways for like to find a solution for this, uh, mobile
homes crisis. And on the 12th, no that was (mumbled) uh, on Sunday, I went New
York and I visited the Liberty Statute for the first time. It's really nice and I love
the story behind it and this is should be like reminder for every people who
are ... they supposed to look at this. This is really impressing. I just was telling
Jim that I should send this to the federal government so they can (laughs)
understand what's going on. Or remind them what's going on! Anyway, on the
....on the .... on Sunday, uh, Monday the 16th, I went to Philadelphia and I met
with, uh, Mayor of Philadelphia. His name is Jim too! And, uh, he was very nice
guy. He just show us the city, just for me is really interesting because, uh,
another way that city function differently like council and the .... even the council.
They have commissioner that they appoint commissioner, and we don't have that
here, and they, uh, the mayor will elect the commissioner and they are paid
people, and it's really completely different, and it called I guess mayor (both
talking) strong mayor relationship and we have coun.... strong council, which is ... I
like (laughs) I came today, one hour before this meeting. I been like on the
airplane from 10:00 in the morning, and direct to here. Uh, tomorrow.... City
Manager roundtable meeting, and on, urn .... the 19th I will attend the Film Scene
opening. Susan, she's not gonna be here. (laughs) And on the .... on Saturday, I'm
gonna go to Des Moines because I been, you know, I will be award winner for
Passport for Prosperity, in Des Moines at 6:00.
Teague: Congratulations!
Throgmorton: Congratulations! Okay, on the 4th, Geoff, Simon, Tracy, and several other staff
members and I went to the Housing Iowa conference in Cedar Rapids, where
Shelter House received an award for Cross Park Place. So bravo to Shelter
House. It was really pleasing to be up there, even though Crissy didn't have a
chance to say anything. They wouldn't let any of their awardees speak (laughs)
It's kinda weird. And then that same day I dropped by C -Span's bus at the
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Fanners Market, and I know you did too. That was pretty fun, walk in and chat
with those folks and do a selfie with 'em, you know, sort of selfies, photographs
taken. That was fun. And let's see .... I had an opportunity to hear Van Jones
speak on the 10th. Uh.... and that was a pretty big crowd of people in the building
out at Hancher, uh, at the same time and he was pretty impressive. So there's that.
Horace Mann Elementary, its grand reopening. John! You .... you broke my
secret, you know, that I showed up late, you know (laughter) frankly heart broken
at my own .... it wasn't a failure to get there. I just thought it wouldn't .... I didn't
think they'd do the cutting at 5:00. I should of realized they were going to,
but .... so I blew that. But I want to praise the School Board members going back
to Chris Lynch and Brian Kirschling and those folks, and now to the current
Board, uh, so they .... they and the administration have done a fabulous job with
that school. I see so many beaming parents in the Northside neighborhood now,
as a result of that construction project. They are really happy with it. And, on
that point, I want to praise our Council Member on the left, John Thomas,for his
yeomen like work, with regard to Horace Mann. I believe had he not been
actively involved in pushing for things he thought would be good for the
neighborhood, the project would of turned out very differently, and here's some
particular ways. Fairchild next.... Fairchild Street, as it comes in to North Market
Square Park, would have gone away. The three houses on the south side of
Fairchild would have gone away. The historic landmark, uh, building on the
comer, would not have gone away but the District would have tried really hard to
make it go away (laughs) and the .... the design of the building itself, and how it
fits on the site, is not exactly what John advocated, but it is ..... a big step in that
direction, and the best part about it is how well it fits in with the existing building
and that's a key reason why the parents love that new addition. They just really
love it. So bravo, John.
Thomas: (mumbled)
Throgmorton: Uh, let's see, one other thing I wanna mention is that.....in, next week, September
25 to 27, I'll be in Dubuque attending the Iowa League of Cities conference. I'm
lookin' forward to that! That's it for me!
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council
regular formal meeting of September 17, 2019.